House Education and Public Works committee adopts amendment limiting DEI offices, sends bill to the floor

The House Education and Public Works Committee on Wednesday adopted a strike‑all amendment to H.3927 that replaces the bill’s original language with a measure limiting state and quasi‑state agencies and public institutions of higher education from creating DEI offices, requiring diversity statements, or giving preferential treatment on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.

The amendment, summarized in detail by committee legal counsel Macy Webb, passed the committee by recorded votes and was reported favorably as amended to the full House. Committee members then debated the scope of the amendment, possible unintended consequences for grants and accreditation and protections for free speech before the committee voted to move the bill forward.

Webb told the committee that the amendment is “a strike all and insert amendment” and walked members through section by section. She said the measure defines public institutions of higher learning and “quasi‑state agency” and then bars state and quasi‑state entities from creating or supporting units that promote diversity, equity and inclusion unless required by state or federal law. Webb said the amendment “prevents each entity from having a DEI specific office” and that it also “prevents requiring mandatory diversity statements.”

The higher education section, Webb said, is modeled in part on language from last year’s H.4289 and includes carve‑outs intended to preserve compliance with federal and accrediting requirements. Webb told…