HR 7875 · 116th Congress 2019–2021, ended

Equal Opportunity First Amendment Act

Introduced Jul 30, 2020 Originated House Sponsor Kevin Hern R-OK

Latest action · Jul 30, 2020 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedJul 30, 2020
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Equal Opportunity First Amendment Act

This bill requires states and local governments to enforce orders limiting public gatherings under emergency declarations equally.

Specifically, the bill (1) prohibits states and units of local government that issue orders that limit gatherings to a certain number of people pursuant to a national emergency or similar state emergency declaration from discriminating in the enforcement of such order, in the case of persons who are exercising a right protected under the First Amendment; and (2) authorizes a private right of action in U.S. district court by a person who is harmed by a violation of this provision.

Cosponsors 25

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jul 30, 2020 to Oct 23, 2020; 22 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
R-VA	Ben Cline	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-TX	Bill Flores	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-OH	Bob Gibbs	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-TX	Brian Babin	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-NC	Dan Bishop	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-PA	Daniel Meuser	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-TN	David P. Roe	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-CO	Doug Lamborn	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-VA	H. Morgan Griffith	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-IN	James R. Baird	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-SC	Jeff Duncan	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-IN	Jim Banks	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-GA	Jody B. Hice	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-TX	Louie Gohmert	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-TN	Mark E. Green	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-MS	Michael Guest	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-SC	Ralph Norman	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-GA	Rick W. Allen	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-AL	Robert B. Aderholt	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-NC	Ted Budd	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-FL	W. Gregory Steube	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-SC	William R. Timmons IV	Original	Jul 30, 2020
R-OH	Warren Davidson		Aug 7, 2020
R-TX	Lance Gooden		Aug 14, 2020
R-CA	Ken Calvert		Oct 23, 2020

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Judiciary Committee	Referred Jul 30, 2020

Actions 2

Everything that happened, newest first.

Jul 30, 2020Introduced in House
Jul 30, 2020Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article 1, Section 8: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;. but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 166, no. 135, July 30, 2020, page H4190.

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To require States and units of local governments to enforce stay-at-home orders equally, and for other purposes.
Short Title(s) as Introduced: Equal Opportunity First Amendment Act

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

Jul 30, 2020Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.