As Introduced

135th General Assembly

Regular Session H. C. R. No. 17

2023-2024

Representative Bird

A c o n c u r r e n t R E S O L U T I O N

To express the General Assembly's opposition to the United States Department of Education's reinterpretation of Title IX, and to express support for the Attorney General's legal challenge to the Department's reinterpretation.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF OHIO (THE SENATE CONCURRING):

WHEREAS, Congress enacted Title IX in 1972 to rectify a history of sex discrimination against women in educational institutions by prohibiting disparate treatment based on sex and providing women with equal education and athletic opportunities; and

WHEREAS, For forty years following Title IX's enactment, the term "sex" was consistently used and interpreted by the United States Department of Education and reviewing courts to mean a binary classification of people, biologically either male or female; and

WHEREAS, In 2021, President Biden issued a sweeping Executive Order, Executive Order 13988, declaring the United States Supreme Court's holding in Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644, regarding employment law anti-discrimination protections under Title VII changed the meaning of all federal laws governing and prohibiting sex discrimination, and furthermore, directed all federal agencies to review existing regulations for compliance with Bostock's holding unless a law contains sufficient indications to the contrary; and

WHEREAS, The Executive Order represents a vast overstatement of the holding in Bostock, and directs the executive branch to rewrite federal law by executive fiat; and

WHEREAS, Despite the usurpation of Congress's Article I legislative power, various federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education, began to adopt and attempt to promulgate rules imposing a new definition of "sex" not found anywhere in existing law; and

WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of Education's reinterpretation of Title IX preempts Ohio law governing athletics and compels the State to choose between enforcing existing state law or adhering to a new interpretation of Title IX, thus requiring the State and universities to incur costs related to reviewing and updating policies to ensure compliance with the current Administration's reinterpretation, and credibly threatening the loss of federal funding and the imposition of substantial penalties through private suit if the new interpretation is not applied in full; and

WHEREAS, The Department's redefinition of "sex" conflicts with the plain meaning of Title IX and its operative regulations, and accordingly, the reinterpretation is not entitled to deference and exceeded the agency's legal authority to implement; and

WHEREAS, Redefining "sex" for purposes of Title IX undermines the fundamental protections established by Title IX that safeguard equal education and athletic opportunities for women in Ohio and across the country; and

WHEREAS, On April 30, 2024, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, joined by the attorneys general from four other states, brought suit against the U.S. Department of Education for its unlawful reinterpretation of Title IX; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, That we, the members of the 135th General Assembly of the State of Ohio, express our fervent opposition to the U.S. Department of Education's unlawful reinterpretation of Title IX and redefinition of the word "sex"; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we, the members of the 135th General Assembly of the State of Ohio, support and commend Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for bringing suit against the Biden Administration's U.S. Department of Education for its unlawful reinterpretation of Title IX; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we, the members of the 135th General Assembly of the State of Ohio, express our unwavering support for equal education and athletic opportunities protections for women assured by Title IX; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the House of Representatives transmit duly authenticated copies of this resolution to the news media of Ohio.