SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would have banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices and officers in Utah higher education has been converted to a study instead.
Lawmakers voted Monday to send the issue to the interim Education Committee for further study. The vote came after discussion that the bill would be unnecessary, although SB283 sponsor Sen. John Johnson, R-North Ogden, filed a new version of the bill to make it a topic of study.
Johnson said the original bill’s wording was “quite a bit strong” and that it is “way too harsh” to just cut off diversity, equity and inclusion offices.
“What really brought this on with me is we’re spending over $11 million a year on these programs across the state,” Johnson said. “The real question is where are the benefits? And we have to have a robust discussion about the cost of this versus the benefit.”
Read the full story here: KSL News.
Written by SYDNEE GONZALEZ, KSL.com.