North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell), huddles with Rep. John Bell (R-Wayne), right, during a House vote on Sept. 11, 2024. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts would be banned from North Carolina government under a bill passed by the House on Wednesday.
House Bill 171 bans mandatory DEI training, consideration of diversity and equity in hiring, dedicated DEI offices or positions and the use of any taxpayer dollars on the efforts. It defines DEI as anything that “promotes differential treatment” based on identity.
The measure is part of a trio of Republican-led bills wiping DEI from all corners of the public sector — government, higher education and K-12 education. It passed the House on a 69-45 vote, as protesters and visiting members of the historically Black Divine Nine fraternities and sororities looked on from the gallery.
State workers who violate the measure could be subject to removal, a fine of up to $5,000 and potential civil litigation. And the state auditor’s office, currently held by Republican Dave Boliek, would conduct “periodic” audits on agencies.
Over the course of an extensive, wide-ranging and tense debate, Republican proponents described the bill as a long-overdue return to the idea of prioritizing merit in government.
“It restores the principle that should never have been lost: can you do the job?” said House Majority Leader Brenden Jones (R-Columbus). “Did you earn it? Are you qualified?”
Democrats warned that the bill would set the state further back as it struggles to fill vacancies within government, and that it could dissuade agencies from hiring workers who could be perceived as “DEI hires.”
“Why would you want to be … somebody that sets off those alarms?” House Democratic Leader Robert Reives (D-Chatham) said. “We know that’s the effect. Don’t pretend otherwise. This makes people say, ‘it’s not worth the trouble.'”
The hours-long discussion featured lawmakers speaking on terms both broad and personal.
Rep. John Blust (R-Guilford) read passages from books he described as “seminal documents for DEI,” while remarking that the U.S. “gets a bad rap” relative to the global history of slavery. (Reives later commented that he was “happy to help with history lessons.”)
“I don’t think we’re getting an honest assessment of what DEI is from the debate opponents,” Blust said.
Rep. Carolyn Logan (D-Mecklenburg) (Photo: NCGA video stream)And Rep. Carolyn Logan (D-Mecklenburg) recalled being recruited as the only Black woman to serve on the NC Highway Patrol for more than a decade. And she asked who had taken issue with diversity and equity being used within the state workforce.
“Who was complaining about this? Who are the state agencies who say they were having a problem?” Logan said. “Is it going to be cookie cutter? We’re going back to all white males?”
Republicans, who control the North Carolina legislature, have made a more concentrated push against DEI efforts this session in the wake of the White House’s crackdown on those programs and practices nationally.
The legislation now goes to the Senate. Bills banning DEI in both higher education and K-12 schools have already passed that chamber and are awaiting further action in the House.
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