BOISE, ID – The House approved Senate Bill 1198 after a passionate debate Thursday. The legislation would bar DEI-based discrimination in hiring and college admissions, diversity training programs and DEI offices. It would also prohibit colleges and universities from requiring DEI classes, unless they’re part of a chosen degree program.
During a House floor debate Thursday, sponsoring Rep. Judy Boyle said students don’t like “being forced” to take “DEI classes,” which have caused “huge division and anger.” She framed DEI as a reversion to discriminatory politics.
“I’m from Irish descent, and my ancestors, when they came over, were treated terribly, as were the Chinese, the Blacks, the Italians, the Catholics,” said Boyle, R-Midvale. “This (bill) does not allow our universities to divide the kids up, force them into this critical theory of oppressor and oppressed.”
Rep. Kyle Harris, who supported the bill, said it wouldn’t limit what can be taught in classrooms, but it does prohibit colleges and universities from requiring DEI-related classes as part of a medical or math degree.
“You can still teach about racism, you can still teach about inequality,” said Harris, R-Lewiston. “DEI is no longer about diversity, equity and inclusion. It doesn’t do any of that anymore, because all it does is divide, exclude and isolate people into little groups so they can be angry at each other.”
SB 1198 faced some bipartisan opposition but ultimately passed 51-16 with overwhelming GOP support.
One of the Republicans who opposed it, Rep. Britt Raybould, said the bill would set a precedent for the government censoring college classrooms. Governments that rely on censorship — in China and Soviet-era Russia, for instance — suppress ideas because they’re “ill-equipped” to defend their own, she said.
“What’s the threshold that we are setting for establishing within law the idea that we should be censoring ideas?” said Raybould, R-Rexburg. “We are capable of standing up to ideas that we disagree with, and countering those arguments in a way that is showing respect to those who disagree with us.”
The bill also instructs the attorney general to investigate potential violations of the DEI restrictions. If proven, a violation can carry fines of up to $50,000, or 10% from the college or university office where it occurred.
Rep. Chris Mathias, the Legislature’s only Black member, said this provision creates a double standard for discrimination protections on campus. Most discrimination claims come from marginalized groups, he said, and claimants must go through “the Olympics” of paperwork and “jump through hoops” to be “heard and seen.” Appeals of university decisions on discrimination claims end at the State Board of Education, he said.
“But if you’re a white student who feels like you were discriminated against because you had to learn about white fragility, well, we’ve got to call in the state’s top law enforcement officer for you,” said Mathias, D-Boise.
SB 1198 headed back to the Senate, which agreed to the House amendments Thursday evening — after a rancorous debate and in a narrow 20-15 vote.
The debate centered on the House’s centerpiece amendment — the proposed fines.
“If there’s no DEI, there will be no fines,” said Sen. Ben Toews, R-Coeur d’Alene, the bill’s Senate sponsor. “So I would say, ‘What is the concern?’”
Sen. Kevin Cook, R-Idaho Falls, questioned why the Legislature wanted to punish the universities again — days after passing a higher education budget that cut budgets for the University of Idaho and Boise State University by $2 million apiece. “We can’t keep kicking them and we can’t keep growing government.”
“How long do we keep punishing people?” countered Sen. Brian Lenney, R-Nampa. “For as long as people keep doing it.”
The vote to agree to the amendments is not the final step. The Senate would still need to pass the bill, before it goes to Gov. Brad Little’s desk.
