S826-119

Introduced

To amend title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance on the ground of religion, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for rigorous enforcement of prohibitions against discrimination by institutions of higher education on the basis of antisemitism, and for other purposes.

119th Congress Introduced Mar 4, 2025

Summary

What This Bill Does

The bill adds religion as protected category under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, exempts religious organizations, defines discrimination to include deliberate indifference to severe harassment in higher education, creates escalating financial sanctions for institutions of higher education found in repeated violation of Title VI for antisemitic discrimination: 10% of federal funding for second violation within 5 years, 33%, and requires detailed sanctions framework: second antisemitic discrimination violation within 5 years triggers 10% fine on affected program federal funding, third violation triggers 33% fine. It relies on compliance mandates, exemptions, definition changes, and reporting requirements. The main policy areas are Education.

Who Benefits and How

Jewish students on college campuses could face reduced risk, Religious communities could face reduced risk, and Jewish students could face reduced risk.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Institutions of higher education could face higher costs, Institutions subject to Title VI would take on compliance duties, and Institutions found in violation of Title VI would take on compliance duties.

Key Provisions

  • Adds religion as protected category under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, exempts religious organizations, defines discrimination to include deliberate indifference to severe harassment in higher education...
  • Creates escalating financial sanctions for institutions of higher education found in repeated violation of Title VI for antisemitic discrimination: 10% of federal funding for second violation within 5 years, 33%...
  • Requires detailed sanctions framework: second antisemitic discrimination violation within 5 years triggers 10% fine on affected program federal funding, third violation triggers 33% fine.
  • Adds compliance determination factors and court monitor authority to Title VI: agencies and courts must consider parity of enforcement across protected classes; courts may appoint monitors for remedy implementation.
  • Requires new Section 608 of Civil Rights Act requiring agencies and courts to consider parity of discrimination enforcement across protected categories, and authorizing courts to appoint compliance monitors.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

The bill adds religion as protected category under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, exempts religious organizations, defines discrimination to include deliberate indifference to severe harassment in higher education, creates escalating financial sanctions for institutions of higher education found in repeated violation of Title VI for antisemitic discrimination: 10% of federal funding for second violation within 5 years, 33%, and requires detailed sanctions framework: second antisemitic discrimination violation within 5 years triggers 10% fine on affected program federal funding, third violation triggers 33% fine.

Key Policy Areas

Education

Primary Purpose

The bill adds religion as protected category under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, exempts religious organizations, defines discrimination to include deliberate indifference to severe harassment in higher education, creates escalating financial sanctions for institutions of higher education found in repeated violation of Title VI for antisemitic discrimination: 10% of federal funding for second violation within 5 years, 33%, and requires detailed sanctions framework: second antisemitic discrimination violation within 5 years triggers 10% fine on affected program federal funding, third violation triggers 33% fine.

Policy Domains

Education

Title VI Amendments - Religion and Harassment

Identified Gains
  • Jewish students on college campuses
  • Religious communities
  • Jewish students
  • Religious organizations
  • Free speech advocates
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Jewish students:
Free speech advocates:
Religious communities:
Religious organizations:
Jewish students on college campuses:
Identified Costs
  • Institutions of higher education
  • Institutions subject to Title VI
  • Institutions found in violation of Title VI
  • Department of Education Office for Civil Rights
  • Federal departments and agencies
Model: codex-gpt-5:bulk-repair | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is
Federal departments and agencies:
Institutions of higher education: , ,
Institutions subject to Title VI:
Institutions found in violation of Title VI:
Department of Education Office for Civil Rights:

Legislative Progress

Introduced
Introduced Committee Passed
Mar 4, 2025

Mr. Scott of Florida introduced the following bill; which was …

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Education
7 mentions across 5 clauses
+2 positive -5 negative

Institutions found in violation of Title VI, Institutions of higher education, Institutions subject to Title VI

Positive-direction: Jewish students, Jewish students on college campuses

Negative-direction: Institutions found in violation of Title VI, Institutions of higher education, Institutions subject to Title VI

Government
3 mentions across 3 clauses
-3 negative

Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, Federal courts, Federal departments and agencies

Religious Organizations
2 mentions across 1 clause
+2 positive

Religious communities, Religious organizations

Advocacy Groups
1 mention across 1 clause
+1 positive

Free speech advocates

6/9
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Education
Actor Mappings
"federal_departments"
→ Federal departments and agencies administering programs
Domains
Education
Actor Mappings
"ocr"
→ Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Education
"the_secretary"
→ Secretary of Education
Domains
Civil Rights
Actor Mappings
"courts"
→ Federal courts

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

2 terms
"discrimination (harassment)" §2(c)

Includes deliberate indifference to harassment that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive, and that so undermines and detracts from a victim's educational experience, that the victim is effectively denied equal access

"antisemitism" §2(d)(2)

A certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews, and the rhetorical and physical manifestations of which are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals or their property, or Jewish community institutions or religious facilities

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology