LANSING, Mich. — Michigan is the latest state to consider letting college athletes be paid following the introduction of bipartisan legislation Wednesday that would allow them to cash in on the use of their name, image and likeness.

The bills, which are modeled after a new California law but would take effect sooner, also would no longer make it a crime for agents to enter into contracts with student athletes. They were proposed a week after the NCAA, pressured by individual states that started acting on their own, took a major step toward allowing athletes to make money off their fame.

“This is an issue of fairness,” said Rep. Brandt Iden, a Republican. “It’s a free-market issue. If a student athlete has the talent and ability to make a little money from a sponsorship or an advertising contract, they should have the opportunity to do so.”