FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky lawmakers seem ready to resume work on a bill dealing with diversity, equity, and inclusion practices at public universities. But the outcome could be different next year because they have had months to try to work out their differences, the state Senate’s new majority floor leader said Tuesday.
“It’s an issue that seems to continue to play its way into policy discussions across many states,” State Sen. Max Wise (R-Campbellsville) said during an interview with The Associated Press.
A conservative quest to limit DEI initiatives gained momentum this year in statehouses and college governing boards. GOP lawmakers in about two dozen states filed bills seeking to restrict DEI initiatives. They were countered by Democrats who sponsored supportive DEI measures in about 20 states.
In Kentucky, DEI legislation died this year amid a House-Senate impasse. For Republicans — who hold supermajorities in both chambers — it was a rare setback on a priority, hot-button issue.
Wise said Tuesday he expects GOP lawmakers to take up a DEI bill again next year during Kentucky’s 30-day legislative session, which convenes in Jan. 2025, but said he hasn't seen any draft legislation on the issue. Wise’s Republican Senate colleagues recently chose him for the majority floor leader role.
When this year’s session ended in mid-April, many lawmakers left the Capitol disappointed a DEI measure didn’t pass, Wise said. By next year, however, lawmakers will have the benefit of spending additional months studying and discussing the issue, he said.
“I think a lot of times when we have legislation from one session and it doesn’t pass and it goes into the next year, I think that’s where things typically get worked out in the interim,” Wise said. “I would be very surprised, if we had another DEI bill, that it did not pass the second time.”
Read the rest at Spectrum News.
--30--
Comments
