North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein on Thursday vetoed three Republican-sponsored bills that seek to ban diversity, equity and inclusion in public schools, universities and state government, calling the legislation a distraction from more pressing issues facing the state.
The bills — Senate Bill 227 targeting K–12 education, Senate Bill 558 focused on UNC System schools and community colleges, and House Bill 171 aimed at state and local government agencies — had all passed along party lines in recent weeks. Each sought to bar DEI offices, training programs, and what Republicans called “divisive concepts” related to race and gender from public institutions.
In a news release announcing the vetoes, Stein accused lawmakers of fueling “culture wars” and neglecting urgent state business.
“At a time when teachers, law enforcement, and state employees need pay raises and people need shorter lines at the DMV, the legislature failed to pass a budget and, instead, wants to distract us by stoking culture wars that further divide us,” Stein said in a statement. “These mean-spirited bills would marginalize vulnerable people and also undermine the quality of public services and public education. Therefore, I am vetoing them. I stand ready to work with the legislature when it gets serious about protecting people and addressing North Carolinians’ pressing concerns.”
These measures are part of Republican-led efforts to restrict diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the public sector — in government, higher education and K-12 education.
Republican lawmakers say the legislation is meant to restore fairness and ideological neutrality in classrooms, and that DEI programs promote a worldview that “stifles opportunity” and “stokes division” by encouraging students to judge others based on race or sex.
But opponents say the language in the bills is overly broad and would have wide-ranging consequences, chilling speech in classrooms and dismantling DEI offices that support students, workers, and communities who have long faced structural barriers.
In a recent NC Newsline story, educators expressed concern that the measures would prevent them from teaching essential parts of American history.
Republicans hold a supermajority in the Senate and could override Stein’s vetoes there without Democratic support. In the House, however, the GOP is one vote shy of the three-fifths supermajority needed for an override and would need at least one Democrat to cross party lines if all members are present and voting. When they departed Raleigh at the end of June for an extended break, legislative leaders indicated that the next voting sessions in the General Assembly will take place the week of July 28.
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