With a midterm shaping up as a major Democratic blowout, Senate Republicans used their final days in session to target labor rights for a group of workers disproportionately composed of young Black men. Affordability may be voters’ main concern, but Sen. Ted Cruz apparently sees attacking college athletes as an electoral winner.

The Protect College Sports Act passed the Senate by a 77 to 22 vote on Monday. Written by Cruz and Sen. Maria Cantwell, the legislation follows years of advertising during college football and basketball games, along with intense lobbying inside the Capitol.

At its core, the bill gives the National Collegiate Athletic Association a limited antitrust exemption. That protection would help the NCAA avoid the procession of lawsuits that finally forced it to compensate the athletes whose labor generates enormous value.

Those lawsuits punished decades of unlawful conduct and are the reason players are being paid, according to the article. Even the conservative Supreme Court unanimously agreed that denying athletes the fruits of their labor was unconscionable.

The exemption would allow the NCAA to cap athlete compensation, restrict transfers between schools, standardize eligibility rules, and impose other requirements. The compensation ceiling would be larger, but the NCAA would gain tighter control over name, image, and likeness deals that athletes have used to secure payment.

The bill includes modest and vague protections involving scholarships and health care, along with limits on agent fees. Those provisions would be written exclusively by the NCAA, and the legislation would also restrict the ability of players to sue colleges over wrongdoing.

Professional leagues such as the NFL and NBA can establish rules because they collectively bargain with their players. Those arrangements allow athletes to work together and strengthen their bargaining power before management sets the terms.

The NCAA wants a very different arrangement. It would receive an exemption permitting it to impose rules while excluding college athletes from the decision making process, giving management the authority without requiring meaningful bargaining with the labor force creating the product.

The Protect College Sports Act does not explicitly prevent students from being classified as employees, despite support among some Republicans for such a ban. Yet collective bargaining in college sports was beginning, with players signing union cards and Stanford’s football team organizing under the College Football Players Association banner.

By letting Congress establish a compensation cap without player input while shielding the NCAA from liability, the bill could crush those emerging organizing efforts. The result would be a return to a cartel system, with the terms firmly controlled by athletic management.

An amendment that would have capped coaches’ salaries and limited contract buyouts failed. Those buyouts paid $200 million last year in college football alone, leaving a major source of university financial pressure untouched while lawmakers concentrated on restricting athletes.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the only senator who was a coach, supports the legislation. Former Stanford tight end Cory Booker, the only senator who was a power conference athlete, opposes it, a contrast that neatly captures who gains power and who loses it.

The measure also seeks to discourage conference realignment, although that restriction is temporary. Much of its appeal is directed toward traditionalist fans frustrated by constantly changing schedules and rosters, old rivalries disappearing, and players gaining leverage through college sports free agency.

The article’s author, a Michigan graduate who attended school with the Fab Five and a Heisman Trophy winner, acknowledges that nostalgia. But fond memories are not enough to justify denying players what the author describes as their rightful share of the financial rewards.

Even the claim that the bill would comfort traditional fans took a hit when another amendment failed. That proposal would have capped the face value price of college football and basketball tickets, but senators rejected that limit while approving controls on athlete compensation.

Cruz, who was loudly booed in Texas on ESPN’s College GameDay while discussing the bill, wants the House to return to Washington and pass it. His envisioned campaign spectacle would feature a presidential signing ceremony followed by Republicans promoting a measure that takes power from college athletes while gas costs $5 a gallon.