Although it is an unusual action, the Louisiana Senate has decided not to refer a bill that aims to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion to a committee where it may be debated.
This decision effectively means that the proposal will be abandoned without any further consideration.
Rep. Emily Chenevert, a Republican from Baton Rouge, proposed House Bill 685, which would have prohibited diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies across the state government and prohibited state universities and colleges from mandating particular race- and gender-based curricula for undergraduate students attending such institutions.
Following an hour-long debate in which Black members referred to the bill as “racially oppressive,” it was only narrowly approved by the House of Representatives last month.
In an interview on Monday, Senate President Cameron Henry, a Republican from Metairie, stated that “We couldn’t figure out which committee to refer it to.”
Chenevert expressed her disappointment that her bill was not brought before a Senate committee for a hearing, and she added that she would consider bringing the legislation before the Senate committee once more in the future.
“Sometimes it’s not about getting all the way through,” Chenevert stated. “Maybe it’s just bringing up the topic and having some … open conversations about it.”
Since the initial version of the legislation exclusively forbade DEI techniques in state agencies, it was first discussed in the House and Governmental Affairs Committee.
It was changed to limit college curricula at that hearing, but it was not forwarded to the House Committee on Education, which considers bills pertaining to higher education and curricula.
“To the extent the bill intended to prohibit the inclusion of certain concepts which are unrelated to specific courses or programs it would be unnecessary as professional best practices already set that standard,” LSU Faculty Senate President Dan Tirone stated.
With over three weeks remaining in the legislative session, House Bill 685 was introduced in the Senate on May 20. This would have allowed it to be debated in committee, which is a prerequisite for a Senate floor vote. However, Chenevert’s suggestion was not addressed as the last week of committee meetings came to an end.
Henry stated, “I think it’s unnecessary,” adding that the Senate, not just he, had decided to put the bill on hold. “An enormous amount of people from both parties expressed their reservations.”
Governor Jeff Landry supported Chenevert’s bill.
Henry stated, “If the governor wants to institute that, he can do an executive order.”
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The bill would have forbade mandatory classes covering any of the following topics if it had been passed into law:
- Theory of critical race
- White guilt or white fragility
- Anti-racism, systemic racism, or institutional racism
- Implicit bias or systemic bias
- The concept of intersectionality
- Identity of gender
- Allyship
- Reparations based on race
- Race-based privilege
If a subject was “included at the discretion of the faculty member, is not prescribed by the institution as a program requirement, and is part of a broader pedagogical objective,” the law would have permitted its teaching.
Despite this wording, the bill’s opponents claimed it might have had a chilling impact on faculty members’ freedom of speech and intellectual freedom.
In a letter to legislators, the American Association of University Professors’ Louisiana branch urged them to oppose the bill.
“This legislation would stifle the ‘marketplace of ideas’ and infantilize our students, forcing faculty to avoid concepts the legislature dislikes and presenting only those that have gained their favor,” according to the letter. “This is antithetical to freedom in a democratic society and hurts our students as they transition into fully enfranchised citizens.”
The Southern University Foundation, which is affiliated with Louisiana’s largest historically Black university, also opposed the bill.
