BOISE, ID – A fast-moving, 11th-hour push for a legislative ban on DEI is headed to the House floor.
The House Education Committee Wednesday passed a far-reaching bill to stamp out campus diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The bill comes on the heels of a State Board of Education policy banning DEI-aligned student support centers — and an attempt to cut budgets at Boise State University and the University of Idaho, based in part of DEI concerns. But the bill’s co-sponsor said Senate Bill 1198 would stamp out mandatory DEI programs, and encourage “robust and free debate” on campus.
“We’ve moved away from that noble goal,” said Sen. Ben Toews, R-Coeur d’Alene.
SB 1198 would prohibit DEI-based discrimination in hiring and college admissions, diversity training programs, and DEI offices. It would allow the attorney general to investigate possible violations, and seek fines — and it would allow students or staff to seek financial damages.
But Toews sought to point out what his bill wouldn’t do. It wouldn’t restrict research or creative projects, student activities that do not receive state funding, or guest speakers and performances, as long as attendance is voluntary. Students can still pursue a degree in a DEI discipline, Toews said, “as long as it’s a chosen degree.”
Public testimony was mixed. And at times, committee members grilled witnesses.
Samuel Lair of the Idaho Freedom Foundation spoke in favor of the bill — saying principles such as antiracism have permeated campus programs. Rep. Chris Mathias, D-Boise, asked Lair if being opposed to racism is social activism, and if social activism is bad. Lair said he believes DEI adherents want to dismantle and rebuild a society that is fundamentally racist.
Mary Mosley of the American Association of University Women’s Idaho chapter testified against the bill, saying it threatens the heart of her group’s mission: equity for women and girls. Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, grilled Mosley — asking her why her group doesn’t also support equity in sports, by opposing transgender athletes from playing in women’s and girls’ sports.
By comparison, the committee’s debate was subdued.
Rep. Mark Sauter, R-Sandpoint, pushed to keep the bill in committee to allow lawmakers some time to do more research. Rep. Kyle Harris, R-Lewiston, urged colleagues to focus on the basics. Harris said the bill would make DEI “good again,” by eliminating programs that divide, exclude and isolate.
The committee voted 10-4 to send SB 1198 to the House floor for amendments. The House amended the bill Wednesday, reworking the fines. The rewrite would allow the attorney general to seek fines of up to $50,000, or 10% from the college or university office that violated the law.
SB 1198 has been moving quickly through the Statehouse, as lawmakers hope to wrap up the 2025 session in the next few days. The Senate State Affairs Committee passed it Friday and the Senate voted for it on Monday.
But the bill has been in the works for months, and grew out of a House-Senate DEI work group that began meeting last fall.
And Ehardt, a member of that work group, noted that some lawmakers have been pushing back against campus politics for years. “I feel like I have been on this committee since 2019.”
