Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3445 To amend title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to restore the right to individual civil actions in cases involving disparate impact, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2023 Mr. SCOTT of Virginia (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. SABLAN, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CARSON, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. MFUME, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. MCCLELLAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. COURTNEY, and Mr. IVEY) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Work- force, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to restore the right to individual civil actions in cases involving disparate impact, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equity and Inclusion 4 Enforcement Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3445.IH H3445 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3445 IH SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF RIGHT TO CIVIL ACTION IN DIS- 1 PARATE IMPACT CASES UNDER TITLE VI OF 2 THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 3 Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 4 2000d et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘SEC. 607. The violation of any regulation relating 7 to disparate impact issued under section 602 shall give 8 rise to a private civil cause of action for its enforcement 9 to the same extent as does an intentional violation of the 10 prohibition of section 601.’’. 11 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF MONITORS UNDER TITLE VI OF 12 THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. 13 Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 14 2000d et seq.) is further amended by adding at the end 15 the following: 16 ‘‘SEC. 608. (a) Each recipient shall— 17 ‘‘(1) designate at least one employee to coordi- 18 nate its efforts to comply with requirements adopted 19 pursuant to section 602 and carry out the respon- 20 sibilities of the recipient under this title, including 21 any investigation of any complaint alleging the non- 22 compliance of the recipient with such requirements 23 or alleging any actions prohibited under this title; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3445.IH H3445 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3445 IH ‘‘(2) notify its students and employees of the 1 name, office address, and telephone number of each 2 employee designated under paragraph (1). 3 ‘‘(b) In this section, the term ‘recipient’ means a re- 4 cipient referred to in section 602 that operates an edu- 5 cation program or activity receiving Federal financial as- 6 sistance authorized or extended by the Secretary of Edu- 7 cation.’’. 8 SEC. 4. SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR EQUITY AND INCLUSION. 9 Section 202(b) of the Department of Education Or- 10 ganization Act (20 U.S.C. 3412(b)) is amended— 11 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para- 12 graph (5); and 13 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3), the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(4) There shall be in the Department, a Special As- 16 sistant for Equity and Inclusion who shall be appointed 17 by the Secretary. The Special Assistant shall promote, co- 18 ordinate, and evaluate efforts to engender program com- 19 pliance with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 20 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) and inform individuals of their 21 rights under such Act, including the dissemination of in- 22 formation, technical assistance, and coordination of re- 23 search activities, in a manner consistent with such Act. 24 The Special Assistant shall advise both the Secretary and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3445.IH H3445 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3445 IH Deputy Secretary on matters relating to compliance with 1 title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d 2 et seq.).’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3445.IH H3445 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS