The White House said Thursday that it doesn’t plan to withhold federal funding from North Carolina while the state and the Justice Department fight a legal battle over an anti-LGBT law.
North Carolina currently faces both a federal multiagency review on the law, known as HB2, and a DOJ lawsuit charging that the state violated federal civil rights law by passing legislation that discriminates based on gender identity. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday in a press briefing that North Carolina would continue to receive federal funding for the time being.
“This was a review that agencies were working on together as they evaluate what impact this law would have on problems that are funded by the federal government,” Earnest said, as quoted by the Washington Blade. “The White House has been a part of that review. The Department of Justice has been a part of that review. But all of that has been separate from the Department of Justice’s conclusion that they needed to take action to enforce the Civil Rights of 1964, and what has been concluded as a result of that effort is that the administration will not take action to withhold funding while this enforcement process is playing out in the courts.”
HB2 is a sweeping piece of legislation that prevents cities and counties from passing their own anti-discrimination laws, eliminates the right to sue for workplace discrimination of any kind, and prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms in schools and government buildings that are consistent with their gender identity.
According to the Blade’s report, agencies including the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education collaborated on a review of HB2 after its passage to determine whether it would prompt the government to halt funding to the state.
The DOJ filed a separate suit Monday charging that the law amounts to “state-sponsored discrimination” and violates Titles VII and IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Title VII prohibits an employer from discriminating against an individual based on sex, while Title IX prohibits education discrimination based on sex.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) has filed his own legal complaint asking federal courts to weigh in on the legality of HB2.
Nothing in the federal government moves fast. It will be years before NC really starts losing money. But until then, every corporation thinking of moving there, every educated worker thinking of moving there, every family interested in educating their children, will think twice.
Obama’s administration won’t withhold funds from NC, because after all the emotional whooha, they know that they are on shaky legal grounds.
Personally, I’m not happy about this. I think that Fed funding should have been withdrawn immediately; sh*t like this will continue to happen until these states realize they don’t get to screw around with people’s lives but still keep their place at the government teat.
OTOH, I’m wondering if the Administration is doing this because they thought that to withhold educational funds at this time might jepordize Clinton’s election chances.
I was so hoping that they would. How do you hurt the GOP in NC? Withhold money from their beloved UNC Tar Heels.
NO, they KNOW that unlike the Local Drama Queens in the NC GOP, they can go to court and litigate while the status quo remains in place.I think the NC legislation, which preempts the local ordinances is on shaky ground. And is the Red State soup du jour like the Tax Initiatives were in the 80s, like the anti Gay initiatives, like the State Immigration statutes at the beginning of the Obama Adminstration.