House committee votes to advance bill restricting DEI programs at Kentucky colleges

Representative Jennifer Decker, state representative from House District 58, told the House Standing Committee on Postsecondary Education that she seeks to dismantle what she called "failed and misguided DEI bureaucracies" and asked members to support House Bill 4 to limit diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Kentucky colleges and universities.

Decker said HB 4 "would allow our universities and colleges to return to their primary focus of providing Kentucky students with excellence in academic instruction" and urged the panel to act after the committee adopted a substitute that narrowed and changed parts of the original bill.

The committee substitute removes a private right of action that had been in the original draft and adds several enforcement and conformity provisions. Under the substitute, the auditor of public accounts would be authorized to review whether institutions comply with the statute every four years. If the auditor finds a violation, the institution would be notified and given 180 days to cure it; failure to cure would render the institution ineligible for formula funding…