SC House passes bill banning ‘illegal' DEI across schools and government

Yahoo

03-04-2025

Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Columbia, speaks in the South Carolina House Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in opposition to a bill prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. (Screenshot of SCETV legislative livestream)
COLUMBIA — South Carolina's Republican-controlled House passed a bill prohibiting state agencies, local governments and universities from violating federal discrimination laws with initiatives promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
The bill also requires private businesses with government contracts to certify they don't violate federal discrimination laws.
Republicans insist two words inserted into the bill — 'illegal discrimination' — mean it does nothing to existing programs operating legally. Their argument was that it's an anti-DEI bill that cracks down on 'radical' mandates and protects 'equal treatment under the law' without affecting legal diversity efforts.
Whether that's true or not, opponents said, it still has a chilling effect across the state.
The legislation, which passed 82-32 along party lines Wednesday, bans all state agencies, public schools and local governments from giving preferential treatment in hiring or enrollment decisions — or, on the flip side discriminating against anyone — based on a person's race, gender, religion, or other aspects of their identity.
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It bars government entities from having offices 'for the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion' and forbids them from requiring statements from applicants expressing support for these types of efforts.
Before the final vote, a GOP-led amendment also re-inserted a ban on contracting with private companies with so-called DEI programs. That ban was removed during the committee process following testimony on the far-reaching consequences of such a requirement.
Republicans congratulated themselves as being part of the national anti-DEI movement by adopting the legislative framework of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump banning DEI initiatives at the federal level.
Those orders are currently facing legal challenges over their constitutionality.
The legislation passed despite hours of testimony from college students, professors, and K-12 teachers, as well as advocacy organizations representing women, LGBTQ+ people, racial minorities and South Carolinians with disabilities opposing the effort.
'During the debate you heard a lot of inaccuracies. You heard a lot of fear mongering,' Rep. Shannon Erickson, chairwoman of the House Education and Public Works Committee, said Wednesday on the floor.
'The truth of this bill is that it stops illegal discrimination,' the Beaufort Republican added. 'If a program is operating legally, without violating anti-discrimination laws, then programs should remain in place.'
She called it a 'critical step toward protecting students and educators from political agendas that have no place in our classrooms.'
Sherry East, president of the South Carolina Education Association, had a completely different take.
It's an 'intrusion of divisive national politics into the living rooms, meeting rooms, and classrooms of South Carolinians,' she said in a release after the vote. 'Moreover, it reflects a troubling and ongoing confusion and misrepresentation regarding the distinction between DEI initiatives and discrimination.'
The problem, said Rep. Jermaine Johnson, is that what constitutes 'illegal discrimination' is up to interpretation and has already led universities to self-police and shy away from certain programs out of an abundance of caution.
If passed, the state attorney general would be charged with enforcement.
'So instead of going through that situation, (colleges) say, 'You know what, let's just take down the signs at the multicultural center,'' the Columbia Democrat said. 'Let's just go ahead and do this regardless.'
Democrats argued the loss of DEI programs would leave those who face economic or other disadvantages that more often impact minority populations without support to overcome hurdles not encountered by more affluent peers.
'This is no longer the anti-DEI bill to me. This is the anti-opportunity bill,' said Rep. Wendell Jones, D-Piedmont. 'You're closing the door on so many people. We're going to lose businesses. We're going to lose talent. We're going to lose championships. Because those same kids are now looking to 'blue' states to try to figure out where can I go to play. … Let me go where they appreciate me.'
After hearing testimony from Black Democrats, who one after another stood to share personal experiences facing racial discrimination, the General Assembly's lone Black Republican stepped up to make the party's final argument for passage of the bill.
'I stand before you and say this, DEI is not going to be the force of the future that shapes our doctors, lawyers,' Rep. Harriet Holman. 'We need, here in South Carolina, a meritocracy. We need to reward talent, hard work and determination.'
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The Ridgeville Republican spoke of her 28 years of service in the U.S. Army, retiring in 2010 as a lieutenant colonel.
'I am not going to allow anyone to measure my success by DEI. It is not based on my identity. It is based on my hard work,' she said. 'I hope for a future where we have an environment where our young people rise to success … not because of their color, and because they have earned every bit of it.'
The bill expands on legislation passed by the House last year that applied only to public colleges, banning them from factoring applicants' political stances into hiring, firing and admission decisions.
The Senate never took up that measure, and it died with the end of session.