A bill for an act prohibiting community colleges from establishing diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and engaging in certain other activities relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion.(See HF 855.)
Summary
HSB61 would expand Iowa’s existing restrictions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) activities in public higher education to explicitly include community colleges. Under current law, Code chapter 261J already limits public institutions of higher education from establishing DEI offices, requiring DEI statements, or giving preferential treatment based on such statements, subject to exceptions for federal or state law and accreditation requirements. This bill amends the definition of “public institution of higher education” so that community colleges are covered by those same prohibitions.
In practical terms, the bill would bar community colleges from creating DEI offices and from engaging in other covered DEI-related practices already prohibited for regent institutions. It would also place community colleges under the chapter’s reporting and enforcement framework, including annual compliance reporting to the legislature and governor and potential enforcement by the attorney general. The bill’s stated effect is to make the DEI restrictions uniform across Iowa’s public higher education system.
Impact
The bill would amend Iowa Code chapter 261J by redefining “public institution of higher education” to include community colleges, thereby extending existing DEI-related prohibitions to those institutions. This would affect community college governance, hiring and admissions-related practices involving DEI statements or preferences, and compliance obligations tied to annual reporting and attorney general enforcement. The bill preserves exceptions where federal law, state law, or accreditation standards require otherwise.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests the bill had meaningful support in committee, passing the House Committee on Higher Education by a 7-4 vote. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no recorded debate to indicate detailed arguments from either side. Based on the bill’s subject matter and the committee vote, the measure appears to have been supported by members favoring restrictions on DEI programs and opposed by members concerned about those limits.
Contention
The main point of contention is whether community colleges should be subject to the same DEI restrictions already applied to regent universities. Supporters are likely to view the bill as promoting neutrality and consistency across public higher education, while opponents are likely to argue that it limits institutional autonomy and may restrict DEI-related staffing, programming, or student support efforts. The exceptions for federal law, state law, and accreditation standards may also be a focus, since they define the practical scope of the prohibition.
Replaced by
A bill for an act prohibiting community colleges from establishing diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and engaging in certain other activities relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion.(Formerly HSB 61.)