Bill Banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Programs in Government and Education Moving
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CHARLESTON -- A bill codifying Gov. Patrick Morrisey's ban on practices and philosophies tied to diversity, equity and inclusion in West Virginia departments and within education is closer to making it to the floor of the House of Delegates, though the only voices speaking out are those against the legislation.
The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Monday afternoon on Senate Bill 474, ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs, commonly referred to as DEI. The bill could be on the mark-up and discussion phase as soon as today and up for passage before the session ends at midnight on Saturday.
SB 474 would eliminate DEI programs and related positions across the state's executive branch, public schools and higher education institutions. The bill argues for equal treatment based on color-blind and sex-neutral principles, defining DEI in ways that encompass efforts to address disparities based on race, ethnicity and sex.
SB 474 is similar to one of Morrisey's first decrees issued the day after he took office on Jan. 13. Executive Order 3-25 prohibits the use of DEI by state departments and agencies, as well as the use of state taxpayer dollars for DEI programs. That executive order faced objections from the ACLU and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
No supporters of SB 474 spoke in Monday's House Judiciary Committee or during the two House Education Committee meetings last week.
Instead, the bill was questioned Monday by Democratic committee members, raising issues about freedom of speech and the definition of DEI itself.
"Diversity, equity and inclusion is defined ... and it seems to me like it includes race, color, ethnicity, national origin. So those are all distinct but maybe overlapping types of considerations," said Delegate Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia. "Things related to race, it seems, are not going to be allowed anymore, but things related to socioeconomic condition will. I guess I'm wondering why pick and choose? Why are some types of diversity OK and other types not OK?"
The committee took testimony Monday from Karen Williams, a retired educator whose father, Charles Price, was the first Black graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law in 1948.
"I'm not asking for your empathy. I'm just asking you to listen to people from the community," Williams said. "Because you may look at me and not know that I have African American heritage, I have Native American heritage and I also have Caucasian heritage here in the State of West Virginia. But I want you to look around this room and look around your county. I'm asking you, look in your schools and employment. Is this really a problem here in West Virginia?"
Paul Sheridan, a former director of the Civil Rights Division under the late Attorney General Darrell McGraw, testified that the definitions of DEI in SB 474 were too broad and could cause confusion with enforcement.
"My gravest concern with the legislation as it's constructed is that the definitions, I think, are very, very difficult to understand," Sheridan said. "They define DEI as a concept - really three separate concepts kind of put together. We talk about it in the initials, but they don't really relate to the common meanings of the words 'diversity, equity and inclusion,' which are not separately defined. And so that creates confusion."
Last Thursday, Del. Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia, gave an impassioned speech urging rejection of SB 474 in the House Education Committee meeting.
"It's offensive. It's offensive to me. It's offensive to my ancestors," said Hamilton, the Legislature's lone Black female member. "My great-great-grandfather was a slave. That's how my family got here, but no one else has that testimony in here. DEI matters, and I'm tired of having these conversations every year. ... At some point, West Virginia has to move beyond this, and why we've got to have this legislation coming from the Governor's Office, I do not know."