Every State & DEI – Where Do Things Stand Now?


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After George Floyd was murdered at the hands of police in 2020 diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) became in vogue. But four years later the pendulum has shifted in the opposite direction in the wake of pervasive attacks.

Senior vice president and head of social impact and equity for the Cleveland Cavaliers Kevin Clayton said, diversity officer roles were “the hottest position in America” post George Floyd. But as Johnny Taylor, Society for Human Resource Management president, reflected in an interview with Axios, “The backlash is real. And I mean, in ways that I’ve actually never seen it before.”

In early June, a federal appeals court handed down a ruling that the Fearless Fund, which provides grants for Black women, was a racially discriminatory program. As ESSENCE has previously reported, this decision is representative of the anti-DEI trend where organizations working to combat longstanding historic racial biases are being targeted. For instance, in the case of Fearless Fund, data backs this disparity. In 2022, Black women-owned businesses receive less than 1% of the total amount of almost $300 billion worth of funding that is invested by venture capital firms.

Over the past two years, the anti-DEI’ers have been successful in their arguments “reframing DEI as discrimination against white people (particularly white men).” One could classify last year’s Supreme Court decision overturning affirmative action as their greatest victory. In the aftermath of the high court’s ruling, “colleges and universities across the country have raced to reshape their application processes, while finding new, legal strategies to foster diversity in the student body.”

Since 2023, 85 bills have been introduced, 14 bills have been signed into law, 14 are at the final legislative approval stage, while 49 have failed to pass, been tabled or vetoed. The impacts of these news laws have already been felt.

In Florida, “the University of Florida eliminated all D.E.I.- related positions, closed the office of the chief diversity officer and halted all D.E.I. contracts with outside vendors,” cutting 13 full time positions and 15 faculty members. In addition, Florida International University and the University of North Florida also eliminated their DEI programs.

To the west in Texas, the University of Texas at Austin has already closed down the Multicultural Engagement Center, causing approximately 60 administrators to be notified that they would be out of a job. Some college campuses on Texas have even closed down centers for LGBTQ students.

Even though Florida and Texas are extreme cases, DEI attacks are also mounting in other states across the country. Using data compiled from Chronicle of Higher Education, ESSENCE presents an update to “Our State of DEI” table with the bills broken down by state and key accompanying restrictions.

State Bill # Status DEI Offices and Staff Mandatory DEI Training Diversity Statements Identity-Based Preferences for Hiring and Admissions
Alabama HB7 Tabled/Failed     X  
SB129 Law X X   X
Arizona SB1694 Tabled/Failed X X   X
SB1005 Introduced X X X X
HB2483 Introduced       X
SB1472 Introduced X X   X
HRes2056 Introduced     X X
Arkansas SB71 Tabled/Failed       X
Florida SB958/HB931 Law     X X
SB999/HB266 Law X   X X
SB1382/HB599 Introduced   X    
Georgia SB261 Tabled/Failed     X  
Idaho SB1242 Tabled/Failed     X  
SB1274 Law     X  
SB1357 Tabled/Failed   X X X
Indiana HB1338 Tabled/Failed   X    
SB191 Tabled/Failed   X X  
SB202 Law     X  
Iowa SFile2435 Law X X X X
SFile81 Tabled/Failed   X    
HStudyBill/HFile616 Tabled/Failed X      
HFile2327/HFile2558 Tabled/Failed X   X X
Kansas Budget Tabled/Failed     X  
HB2460 Introduced     X  
HB2105 Law     X  
Kentucky SB6 Tabled/Failed X X X X
HB9 Tabled/Failed X X X X
Louisiana SB486 Introduced   X X X
SB128 Tabled/Failed       X
Mississippi HB127 Tabled/Failed X X X  
Missouri SB410 Tabled/Failed   X    
HB75 Tabled/Failed   X    
SB680 Tabled/Failed     X X
HB1196 Tabled/Failed     X  
SB1125 Introduced     X  
SB1314 Introduced X X    
HB1737 Introduced     X  
HB2448 Introduced X X    
HB2569 Introduced X X    
HB2365 Introduced X X    
HB2619 Introduced X X    
HB2567 Introduced X X X  
Montana SB222 Tabled/Failed   X    
Nebraska LegBill1330 Tabled/Failed X X   X
North Carolina HB607       Introduced     X  
SB364 Law   X X  
North Dakota SB2247 Law   X X  
Ohio HB33 Tabled/Failed X X X X
SB83/HB151 Introduced X X X X
HB394 Introduced     X  
Oklahoma SB870 Tabled/Failed X      
SB1008 Tabled/Failed     X X
SB1303 Tabled/Failed X X X X
SB1678 Tabled/Failed X X X  
Oregon HB2430/HB2475 Tabled/Failed     X X
Pennsylvania HB2041 Introduced   X    
South Carolina HB4290 Tabled/Failed   X X  
HB4289 Tabled/Failed     X  
SB833 Tabled/Failed   X X X
HB4663 Tabled/Failed X X X X
Tennessee SB102/HB158 Law   X    
SB603/HB571 Tabled/Failed   X    
HB1948 Tabled/Failed X X X X
Texas SB17/HB1 Law X X    
HB1006 Tabled/Failed X      
HB1046 Tabled/Failed     X  
HB3164 Tabled/Failed X      
SB2313 Tabled/Failed   X    
SB17/HB5127 Law X X X X
HB5140 Tabled/Failed       X
Utah HB451 Tabled/Failed     X  
SB283 Tabled/Failed X      
HB111 Tabled/Failed   X    
HB261 Law X X X X
West Virginia HB3503 Tabled/Failed X X X X
HB4387 Tabled/Failed X X X X
Wisconsin AssemblyBill43 Tabled/Failed X      
AssemblyBill554/SB596 Tabled/Failed       X
AssemblyJointRes109 Introduced       X
AssemblyBill1065/SB988 Tabled/Failed     X  
Wyoming Budget2024 Law X      
SenateFile130 Tabled/Failed X X    
U.S. Congress HR6848 Introduced     X  
HR7725 Introduced X X X X



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