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1 1 (July 29, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedxj0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______ **Research Service I ~~~ i~nforming the legislative d bate since 1914____________________ The American Rescue Plan Act: Equal Protection Challenges July 29, 2021 Following the enactment of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) earlier this year, several lawsuits have been filed in federal court alleging that certain race- or sex-conscious relief that the ARPA authorizes is unconstitutional on equal protection grounds. These complaints have challenged aspects of the ARPA authorizing the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RFF) program administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and a loan forgiveness plan administered by the Department of Agriculture (USDA); among other requested relief, plaintiffs sought court injunctions to halt their implementation. As the SBA and USDA began to implement these programs, several federal courts, including a federal court of appeals for the Sixth Circuit, granted motions to preliminarily or temporarily enjoin the agencies from implementing these programs until the litigation is resolved. This Sidebar discusses equal protection principles at play in these legal challenges. It then highlights aspects of the Sixth Circuit decision concerning an equal protection challenge to the SBA-administered RFF program, and several federal district court decisions addressing similar challenges to the USDA- administered loan forgiveness program. The Sidebar closes with potential considerations for Congress. Equal Protection Principles The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that No State shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. As a general matter, the same equal protection obligations apply to the federal government through the Fifth Amendment. Thus, where federal legislation includes relief or targeted benefits to groups based on race or sex, such legislation may trigger equal protection claims. While the federal government can consider race or sex in narrow circumstances, such as to remedy past and present discrimination by a state actor against such groups, the Constitution's equal protection guarantees require that the government have sufficient justification for doing so. To make that determination, federal courts apply strict scrutiny to racial classifications, a test that requires the government to demonstrate a compelling interest for considering race and show that its action was narrowly tailored to further that interest. When remedying discrimination is asserted as a compelling interest, Supreme Court precedent requires that the government show sufficient evidence for concluding that remedial action was necessary. In addition, a court will examine whether the remedial Congressional Research Service https://crsreports. congress.gov LSB10631 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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