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Perdue rolls out civil rights revamp
Story Date: 3/19/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 3/17/18
Phase 3 of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue's reorganization seeks to streamline the department's civil rights activities and broaden their scope. Previously, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights regarded complaints from the customers USDA serves to be outside of its jurisdiction. The change, Perdue said in a March 9 e-mail to staff, represents "a significant expansion of civil rights complaints to be considered."
'Consistency is vital': Under the new plan, each USDA mission area, as well as the Office of the Inspector General and departmental staff offices, will be served by a Civil Rights Director and appropriate Equal Opportunity staff members, Perdue said. The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights will supervise a "central and consistent" approach. Sub-agency resources will be consolidated at the mission-area level.
"Consistency is vital to preserving civil rights; people must have confidence they are being treated fairly and in the same manner as everyone else," Perdue said.
Audit coming in FY2019: Separate from Perdue's plan, USDA Inspector General Phyllis Fong told the House Appropriations Committee's agriculture panel on Thursday that the Office of the Inspector General will conduct a routine audit in fiscal year 2019 of how USDA's civil rights office handles complaints. USDA has been plagued by civil rights complaints for decades.
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