Fight Book Bans Act would provide grants for schools to defend against conservative book removals
After the Rapid City, South Dakota school system removed the Dave Eggers novel The Circle, Eggers provided hundreds of free copies to the city’s high school seniors.
Context
Book removals from U.S. public school classrooms and libraries increased by +33% during the 2022–23 school year, according to PEN America.
Most censored titles contain unfiltered depictions of — or progressive messages about — racism, sexuality, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The most censored title last school year was Tricks by Ellen Hopkins, a New York Times bestselling novel about teenagers in the world of illegal underaged prostitution.
Book removals are heavily concentrated in red states, particularly in conservative districts within those states. Last school year, Florida comprised 41% of book removals, despite only comprising about 6% of the U.S. population.
However, even when banned from classroom, school, or public libraries, kids and teens could still read these books by other means — like a purchase at a bookstore or online, or downloading New York Public Library’s free nationwide e-reader app SimplyE.
(Although such workaround methods could still potentially be discovered or punished by the reader’s parents.)
What the bill does
While the federal government doesn’t play a role in these content disputes directly, since they’re matters for localities and states, Congress does play a role in public education funding.
The Fight Book Bans Act would appropriate grants for the Department of Education to give to local schools or school districts, to cover the cost of legally defending themselves against calls or requests for book removals.
Congress would appropriate $15 million total over the next five years, with a grant to any single individual school district capped at $100,000.
The bill was introduced as H.R. 6592 on December 5, by Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL10).
What supporters say
Supporters argue that Congress must stand up to local right-wing attempts at intimidation, coercion, and stifling freethought.
“Book bans in Florida and in states across the nation are a direct attack on our freedoms and liberties everywhere,” Rep. Frost said in a press release. “As my home state shamefully leads the country in book bans, we cannot let this censorship and dismantling of our education system go unchecked.”
“We are seeing… loud and clear attempts by far-right conservative leaders to silence and erase our black, brown, Hispanic, and LGBTQ+ communities,” Rep. Frost continued. “[The bill] takes a stand against censorship to firmly stand on the side of history, education, our students, teachers, and schools who don’t deserve to suffer the consequences of radical politics in the classroom. This is about protecting our libraries and protecting truth and history.”
What opponents say
Republican opponents counter that certain materials are legitimately unworthy of taxpayer funding to pay for copies in a public school, but even some Democrats may say that this bill wouldn’t solve the problems it identifies.
After all, even if the federal government appropriated such grants, a state could still reject them — as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) did in August for $350 million worth of federal energy efficiency incentives.
Additionally, some on both sides of the aisle could argue that if a school or school district is willing to defend its book selections in court, they should also be willing to fund the cost of that fight.
Odds of passage
The bill has attracted 60 cosponsors, all Democrats. It awaits a potential vote in the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
Odds of passage are low in the Republican-controlled chamber.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.
Want more? Follow GovTrack by email, on Mastodon, or on Threads.
And for our “A Bill a Minute” video series — on TikTok, on Instagram, or on YouTube.
Like our analyses? Support our work on Patreon
