Franklin resolution criticizes Biden Administration for 'woke agenda'

Gary White, Lakeland Ledger
·3 min read
Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Lakeland, introduced the Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture from withholding school lunch funding to schools that do not comply with policies arising from the order Biden issued in January 2021.
Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Lakeland, introduced the Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture from withholding school lunch funding to schools that do not comply with policies arising from the order Biden issued in January 2021.

Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Lakeland, has introduced a resolution intended to block a federal policy based on an executive order from President Joe Biden prohibiting discrimination over gender identity or sexual orientation.

Franklin introduced the Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to prevent the U.S. Department of Agriculture from withholding school lunch funding to schools that do not comply with policies arising from the order Biden issued in January 2021. In a news release, Franklin described the USDA policy as an “abuse of power.”

“While the Biden White House stoops so low as to use school lunch as leverage in a political game to intimidate school systems into adopting their woke agenda, we’ve worked hard in Florida to kick progressive culture wars out of the classroom and keep parents in charge,” Franklin said in the release.

Conservative Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, frequently use the word “woke” to characterize liberal policies or philosophies they oppose.

Biden’s executive order mentioned Title IX, a federal law dating to 1972, and other civil rights protections. That law forbids discrimination in education “on the basis of sex.”

Citing Biden’s executive order, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service announced in May 2022 that it would interpret prohibitions in federal law to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The agency said that any programs receiving funding from the FNS “must investigate allegations of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation.”

The USDA directed those organizations to update their policies and signs to include prohibitions against such discrimination.

Polk County Public Schools has responded to the federal guidance, spokesperson Kyle Kennedy said.

“Shortly following the issuance of this order, the USDA revised their Nondiscrimination Statement to ensure all protected classes were included," Kennedy said by email. "All documents, as well as the PCPS School Nutrition website, have been updated to reflect this update. In addition, all School Nutrition staff must complete civil rights training on a yearly basis.”

The Attorneys General of 22 states have sued the Biden Administration over the policy. Florida is not among them.

The FNS administers the National School Lunch Program, which provided low-cost and free lunches to 29.6 million children at nearly 100,000 schools in 2019. Polk County Public Schools offers free breakfasts and lunches to all students through the program.

In the resolution, Franklin seeks to use the Congressional Review Act to rescind the USDA’s policy.  A resolution of disapproval is a special legislative procedure that allows Congress to negate executive or agency action while providing clarity on the agency’s statutory authority, Franklin’s office said in the news release.

If enacted, the resolution would prohibit the agency from adopting any similar rules.

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The resolution has so far drawn 18 co-sponsors, all of them Republicans. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

“We don’t co-parent with the federal government,” Franklin said in the news release. “The USDA does not have the authority to impose LGBTQ ideology and dangerous social experiments like shared bathrooms and locker rooms on local schools.”

The Biden order does not mention shared bathrooms. Polk County Public Schools, which receives the USDA funding, does not designate student bathrooms or locker rooms in schools for use by all genders.

Franklin, a former Lakeland city commissioner, serves in U.S. House District 18, which covers eastern Polk County and all or part of seven other counties. He easily won reelection to a second term last year and so far faces only a non-party opponent for 2024.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Franklin resolution seeks to block USDA's anti-discrimination policy