Latest news with #DismantleDEIAct
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Dismantle DEI Act won't create equality. It will maintain disadvantage
As someone who has spent the last several years helping justice-impacted individuals, especially Black and brown youth, find meaningful pathways in education and employment, I've seen up close what a lack of opportunity looks like — and what intentional inclusion can do to change that. That's why the Tennessee House of Representatives' swift passage of the 'Dismantle DEI Act' (House Bill 622) by a 73-to-24 vote on April 17 should alarm everyone in the state, regardless of political affiliation. This wasn't just a vote. It was a clear refusal to engage in the democratic process over a matter that affects thousands of lives and futures across this state. On April 22, the Tennessee Senate voted 27-6 to approve companion Senate Bill 1083. It now goes to Gov. Bill Lee for his consideration before becoming law. Supporters of the bill argue that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts amount to discrimination − even calling them 'communist' and 'racist.' But let's step away from slogans and look at the facts. A 2023 report by McKinsey & Company found that companies with diverse executive teams were 39% more likely to outperform their peers on profitability. In higher education, DEI programs have led to increased enrollment and graduation rates among first-generation students, students of color, and low-income students − all demographics that are traditionally underserved in Tennessee. That's not ideology. That's impact. Tennessee's public universities serve a student body that is increasingly diverse. At the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, students of color made up more than 20% of the 2023 incoming freshman class. DEI programs aren't about favoritism — they are about ensuring that all students, regardless of where they come from, have a fair shot at success. Removing those supports doesn't create equality. It just maintains old systems that already disadvantage the few. And if you want to talk about fairness, let's talk about how the bill was passed. There was no debate. No discussion. A quick procedural move was used to silence dissent. That's not transparency. That's suppression. If DEI is so dangerous, why not let it be debated openly on the floor? As a Black business owner, a nonprofit founder, and someone who's successfully navigated reentry after over a decade behind bars, I know what happens when the system doesn't see you. I also know what happens when it finally does. I am a product of second chances and deliberate inclusion. The people I now serve − youth in crisis, men and women returning home from incarceration − are proof that inclusion works. Equity isn't about making people special. It's about making opportunity real. By dismantling DEI, the legislature isn't protecting fairness. They're dismantling progress. And doing it without debate? That tells me they were never interested in listening to the people who would be most affected. We deserve better. Our students, our workforce, our future — they all depend on it. Tristan Buckner is the founder of Live X-perience, a nonprofit serving at-risk youth and justice-impacted individuals in Tennessee. He is also the developer of several reentry and workforce development programs for correctional facilities and returning citizens. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee's Dismantle DEI Act is dismantling progress | Opinion
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee Republicans push to ban diversity, equity, inclusion policies
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies are meant to foster a workplace where all individuals feel valued and respected, but Tennessee Republicans call it discriminatory and are pushing a bill to ban the practice in the state. 'The Dismantle DEI Act,' sponsored by Rep. Aron Maberry (R-Clarksville) and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), would ban the state and local governments and public colleges and universities from basing hiring decisions on any metrics that consider an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability, or hiring a particular candidate to achieve any goals to increase diversity, equity, or inclusion in the workplace, according to the bill's language. 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → Republicans argue DEI policies prioritize diversity over merit and lead to discriminatory practices that cause qualified people to miss out on opportunities they deserve. 'If discrimination in the past was wrong, and I agree, it was; it is, then discrimination today is wrong,' Rep. Maberry said. 'Diversity is a wonderful thing, but diversity, for diversity's sake alone, and making diversity the number one priority over merit and over running an effective and efficient government, I think is wrong,' Leader Johnson said. The bill follows President Trump's lead in ending DEI policies. In the first week of his second term, President Trump signed an executive order terminating DEI preferencing in the federal government, calling it 'illegal and immoral.' He argued the move was about protecting civil rights and merit-based opportunity. However, Tennessee Democrats argue it's the opposite. They called the 'Dismantle DEI Act' an attempt to turn back time. 'Stop acting like you don't know what this is all about and deal with the reality of it. You are trying to put Black folks back in a box, and I'm saying we're not going,' Rep. Yusuf Hakeem (D-Chattanooga) said. 'We're taking out things that prohibit the government from discriminating against people. We're removing that from the law. That's not anti-DEI. That's anti-civil rights,' Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) said. According to a 2023 PEW Research Center survey that polled employed adults, 56% of participants responded DEI was a good thing in the workplace. However, a Harvard Business Review study found DEI practices undermine diversity in the workplace. ⏩ The bill is set to be debated on the Senate floor Monday afternoon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What is the 'Dismantle DEI Act'? How Tennessee lawmakers are targeting hiring initiatives with legislature
Tennessee lawmakers are looking to further dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the Volunteer State. House Bill 622, known as the "Dismantle DEI Act," would mandate that local governments and publicly funded colleges and universities get rid of their DEI programs. The bill is sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, and Rep. Aron Maberry, R-Clarksville. If passed, the legislation would take away all DEI hiring initiatives in county, municipal and metropolitan governments in the state of Tennessee. It would also eliminate any diversity and inclusion programs for hiring at public institutions of higher education, including the University of Tennessee. "The general assembly finds that local governments are at their most effective when the employees of the local government are the most highly qualified candidates for employment with the local government and that hiring decisions should be based on merit rather than any other metric," the bill reads. Simultaneously, Tennessee Republicans are pushing another anti-diversity initiative that would eliminate affirmative action programs on state regulatory and health-related boards and commissions where the governor appoints the members. This would include the Board of Medical Examiners, Board of Nursing, Board of Occupational Therapy, Board of Dietitian/Nutritionist Examiners and more than 20 others. Under House Bill 1237, such boards would no longer allow "racial preferences or racial quotas" in the composition of board members. The boards that currently are required to have at least one member of a racial minority or woman could get rid of that clause. The governor would have fewer restrictions as to whom he could appoint under the proposed legislation. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Paul Rose, R-Covington, and Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville. Stronger calls to eliminate DEI programs in Tennessee come as President Donald Trump looks to dismantle diversity programs at a federal level. On his first day back in office, Trump revoked a 1965 civil rights executive order to roll back authority long used to prevent employment discrimination by federal contractors, subcontractors and grant recipients. The president has signed executive orders to eliminate DEI policies across much of the federal government. A number of the efforts are facing legal challenge in the courts. Most recently, Trump targeted the Smithsonian Institution with a March 27 executive order that pulls federal funding from "exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy." Trump has reversed decades of DEI initiatives in just a few months. But why? According to the Trump administration, the president is "putting merit first," according to a recent news release. The administration called the federal DEI programs "radical and wasteful." "President Trump is restoring fairness and accountability in federal hiring, and terminating DEI across the federal government," the news release said. Cutting DEI programs was a key pillar of Trump's 2024 reelection campaign and a promise he has made good on in the early months of his second administration. DEI stands for diversity, equity and inclusion. It has a fairly open-ended definition and can be construed differently depending on a person's political ideology. Generally, DEI is a conceptual framework that promotes the fair treatment and full participation of all people, especially populations that have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination because of their background, identity and disability, according to the American Psychological Association. Supporters of these diversity programs say they help companies hire and retain top talent and boost innovation and profits. Others consider the policies to be "woke," saying that they allow companies to hire based on race instead of merit. Critics believe DEI programs propagate 'reverse discrimination," that is, discrimination against white people. USA TODAY reporter Jessica Guynn contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee lawmakers target DEI with two new bills. What to know
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP lawmakers tackle challenge of turning Trump actions into laws
Republicans lawmakers who are jubilant about President Trump's flurry of executive orders and actions reshaping the government are staring down a challenge: making those changes last by turning them into law. For now, the GOP majorities in Congress are largely happy to cede power to the executive branch as Trump tests the limits of his executive authority. But as court challenges and future elections threaten to undo those actions, these lawmakers are strategizing about how to cement them into legislation and then law. House Republicans in the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest caucus of conservatives, launched a 'Set in Stone' initiative to start to identify Trump policies to write into law and pass them through Congress. That's not an easy task. With few exceptions, lasting policy changes would need to clear a 60-vote threshold to advance in the Senate, necessitating support from at least seven Democrats who have no incentive to help Trump secure legislative wins. But Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), chair of the Republican Study Committee, says this is just the start of working with congressional leadership to identify opportunities. 'We have identified a handful of bills knowing that some of them are challenging to get across the finish line, but understanding that the American people elected Donald Trump to do these types of things,' Pfluger said. Those bills include the Dismantle DEI Act, led by Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), to end diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in the federal government; the Birthright Citizenship Act, led by Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), to not provide automatic citizenship to people born to noncitizen parents who do not have permanent residency status; and Rep. Brandon Gill's (R-Texas) bill to codify the 'Remain in Mexico' policy. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also has bills to make English the official language of the United States, to codify the Gulf of America name change, and the Protect Children's Innocence Act outlawing gender-affirming surgery for minors. 'We're calling for swift floor votes in both the House and the Senate on these critical pieces of legislation,' Pfluger said in a press conference. 'The new golden age and America isn't just a slogan. It's a promise to the American people.' Yet one of the bills being pushed by the new initiative shows the challenge of getting any of the measures across the finish line and codified. Senate Democrats earlier this month blocked the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, led by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), which would have prohibited transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports. Republicans were hoping that Democrats, some of whom have softened on their support for transgender athletes in wake of the 2024 election and polls showing opposition to transgender athletes in girls' sports, would help push the bill through — and two Democrats did vote for the legislation in the House. But all of the Democrats in the upper chamber, even those facing difficult midterm elections, voted against the bill. Still, House GOP leaders have promised to codify Trump actions. 'The president has over 300 executive actions already, and we are going to codify so much of what he's doing so that the next team can't unwind it,' Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Some of those codifying activities are set to take place in regular full-year funding bills for fiscal 2026, or in other clawback legislation. A number of hard-line Republicans were not happy that the recent funding measure passed last week to continue government funding until Sept. 30 did not include cuts to programs that have gotten the ax from the Department of Government Efficiency. But leaders have pledged to incorporate some of those major changes in the next year's funding process. The major immediate focus of congressional Republicans, meanwhile, is on crafting an ambitious package of Trump priorities into a reconciliation package that would serve as the president's main legislative priority. The legislation is expected to include an extension of Trump's tax cuts, as well as energy and border priorities. Unlike the bills the RSC is pushing, that package will be able to bypass the Senate's 60-vote cloture threshold, otherwise known as the filibuster, while Republicans are using a special reconciliation process to advance the legislation — so it can advance along party lines. Despite the challenges of codifying broad swath of Trump's executive actions, one member at the Republican Study Committee press conference, Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), indicated there could be bipartisan support for some energy-related legislation, such as repealing the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule. But Republicans are also looking for some major wins. 'What we really want to see is speed and aggressiveness and trying to get these into law,' Pfluger said. The 'Set in Stone' project has some support from outside organizations, including Heritage Action, the advocacy arm of the conservative think tank, as well as from Advancing American Freedom, the advocacy organization founded by former Vice President Mike Pence. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
16-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
GOP lawmakers tackle challenge of turning Trump actions into laws
Republicans lawmakers who are jubilant about President Trump's flurry of executive orders and actions reshaping the government are staring down a challenge: making those changes last by turning them into law. For now, the GOP majorities in Congress are largely happy to cede power to the executive branch as Trump tests the limits of his executive authority. But as court challenges and future elections threaten to undo those actions, these lawmakers are strategizing about how to cement them into legislation and then law. House Republicans in the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest caucus of conservatives, launched a 'Set in Stone' initiative to start to identify Trump policies to write into law and pass them through Congress. That's not an easy task. With few exceptions, lasting policy changes would need to clear a 60-vote threshold to advance in the Senate, necessitating support from at least seven Democrats who have no incentive to help Trump secure legislative wins. But Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), chair of the Republican Study Committee, says this is just the start of working with congressional leadership to identify opportunities. 'We have identified a handful of bills knowing that some of them are challenging to get across the finish line, but understanding that the American people elected Donald Trump to do these types of things,' Pfluger said. Those bills include the Dismantle DEI Act, led by Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), to end diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in the federal government; the Birthright Citizenship Act, led by Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), to not provide automatic citizenship to people born to noncitizen parents who do not have permanent residency status; and Rep. Brandon Gill's (R-Texas) bill to codify the 'Remain in Mexico' policy. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) also has bills to make English the official language of the United States, to codify the Gulf of America name change, and the Protect Children's Innocence Act outlawing gender-affirming surgery for minors. 'We're calling for swift floor votes in both the House and the Senate on these critical pieces of legislation,' Pfluger said in a press conference. 'The new golden age and America isn't just a slogan. It's a promise to the American people.' Yet one of the bills being pushed by the new initiative shows the challenge of getting any of the measures across the finish line and codified. Senate Democrats earlier this month blocked the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, led by Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), which would have prohibited transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports. Republicans were hoping that Democrats, some of whom have softened on their support for transgender athletes in wake of the 2024 election and polls showing opposition to transgender athletes in girls' sports, would help push the bill through — and two Democrats did vote for the legislation in the House. But all of the Democrats in the upper chamber, even those facing difficult midterm elections, voted against the bill. Still, House GOP leaders have promised to codify Trump actions. 'The president has over 300 executive actions already, and we are going to codify so much of what he's doing so that the next team can't unwind it,' Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in February at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Some of those codifying activities are set to take place in regular full-year funding bills for fiscal 2026, or in other clawback legislation. A number of hard-line Republicans were not happy that the recent funding measure passed last week to continue government funding until Sept. 30 did not include cuts to programs that have gotten the ax from the Department of Government Efficiency. But leaders have pledged to incorporate some of those major changes in the next year's funding process. The major immediate focus of congressional Republicans, meanwhile, is on crafting an ambitious package of Trump priorities into a reconciliation package that would serve as the president's main legislative priority. The legislation is expected to include an extension of Trump's tax cuts, as well as energy and border priorities. Unlike the bills the RSC is pushing, that package will be able to bypass the Senate's 60-vote cloture threshold, otherwise known as the filibuster, while Republicans are using a special reconciliation process to advance the legislation — so it can advance along party lines. Despite the challenges of codifying broad swath of Trump's executive actions, one member at the Republican Study Committee press conference, Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio), indicated there could be bipartisan support for some energy-related legislation, such as repealing the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan 2.0 rule. But Republicans are also looking for some major wins. 'What we really want to see is speed and aggressiveness and trying to get these into law,' Pfluger said. The 'Set in Stone' project has some support from outside organizations, including Heritage Action, the advocacy arm of the conservative think tank, as well as from Advancing American Freedom, the advocacy organization founded by former Vice President Mike Pence.
