Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987

The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, or Grove City Bill, is a United States legislative act that specifies that entities receiving federal funds must comply with civil rights legislation in all of their operations, not just in the program or activity that received the funding. The Act overturned the precedent set by the Supreme Court decision in Grove City College v. Bell, 465 U.S. 555 (1984), which held that only the particular program in an educational institution receiving federal financial assistance was required to comply with the anti-discrimination provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, not the institution as a whole.[1][2]

Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987

Long title	An Act to restore the broad scope of coverage and to clarify the application of title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Nicknames	Grove City Bill
Enacted by	the 100th United States Congress
Citations
Public law	Pub.L. 100–259
Statutes at Large	102 Stat. 28
Codification
Acts amended	Civil Rights Act of 1964 Education Amendments of 1972 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Age Discrimination Act of 1975
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 557 by Ted Kennedy (D-MA) on February 19, 1987 Committee consideration by Labor and Human Resources Passed the Senate on January 28, 1988 (75–14) Passed the House on March 2, 1988 (315–98) Vetoed by President Ronald Reagan on March 16, 1988 Overridden by the Senate on March 22, 1988 (73–24) Overridden by the House and became law on March 22, 1988 (292–133)

The Act was first passed by the House in June 1984 (375–32) but failed to pass in either chamber after divisions occurred within the civil rights coalition over its potential effects on Title IX regulations prohibiting discrimination relating to abortion.[3] In January 1988, the Senate accepted an amendment by Senator John Danforth (R-MO)—which he described as "abortion neutral"—that clarifies that the Act does not impose a requirement for entities receiving federal funding to pay or provide for abortions nor does it permit discrimination against women who use or seek abortion services.[4][5] This amendment was opposed the National Organization for Women and other pro-choice groups but ultimately resulted in passage of the bill in both houses.[6]

The final vote in the Senate on January 28, 1988, was 75–14 (48–0 in the Senate Democratic Caucus and 27–14 in the Senate Republican Conference) with 11 members voting present or abstaining,[7] while the final vote in the House of Representatives on March 2, 1988, was 315–98 (242–4 in the House Democratic Caucus and 73–94 in the House Republican Conference) with 20 members voting present or abstaining.[8]

On March 16, 1988, President Ronald Reagan vetoed the bill, arguing that the Act represented an over-expansion of governmental power over private organizational decision making that "would diminish substantially the freedom and independence of religious institutions in our society".[9][10] On March 22, 1988, the Senate overrode Reagan's veto by a vote of 73–24 (52–0 in the Senate Democratic Caucus and 21–24 in the Senate Republican Conference) with 3 members voting present or abstaining,[11] with the House concurring on the same day by a vote of 292–133 (240–10 in the House Democratic Caucus and 52–123 in the House Republican Conference) with 7 members voting present or abstaining.[12] Reagan's veto was the first veto of a civil rights act since Andrew Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

In addition to Title IX, the Act applies to the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.