US Justice Department: HB2 violates federal Civil Rights Act, Could Cost NC Millions
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Ruling could ultimately lead to the loss of millions in federal education money
RALEIGH U.S. Justice Department officials rebuked North Carolina’s House Bill 2 on Wednesday, telling Gov. Pat McCrory that the law violates the U.S. Civil Rights Act and suggesting that it could jeopardize the state’s federal education funding.
The department gave state officials until Monday to address the situation “by confirming that the State will not comply with or implement HB2.”
The letter says HB2, which pre-empted Charlotte’s anti-discrimination ordinance, violates Title IX of the Civil Rights Act, which bars discrimination in education based on sex, and Title VII, which bars employers from discriminating.
If that determination is upheld, North Carolina could lose millions in federal school funding. During the current school year, state public schools received $861 million in federal funding.
The Republican-controlled General Assembly passed HB2 in March in reaction to Charlotte’s recent extension of its anti-discrimination ordinance, which would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of their gender identity. Among other things, the bill defined gender by the sex people were born with.
House Speaker Tim Moore called the Justice Department letter “a huge over-reach (by) the federal government.”
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