House committee advances bill to remove race and gender membership requirements for state boards

Representative Carolyn Brown (R., Dist. 67) presented House Bill 13‑65 to the House State Agencies Committee and the panel voted to pass the bill out of committee.

The measure would remove race- and gender‑based membership qualifications from 22 code sections that set composition or representational goals for boards, task forces and commissions. "This is a very simple bill," Brown said in opening remarks, saying it "simply removes racial and gender quotas" and ties the change to the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantees of equal protection.

Supporters: legal challenge risk and constitutional argument

Laura D'Agostino of the Pacific Legal Foundation, a witness for the bill, told the committee her organization is litigating and has litigated similar quotas in other states. She said statutes that require appointing authorities to base appointments on race or gender create legal exposure and treat citizens as members of a…