A Republican-controlled Florida Senate committee on Tuesday advanced legislation that would eliminate funding for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs at medical schools and state agencies, marking the latest push by GOP lawmakers to roll back DEI initiatives in state-funded institutions.
The bill, SB 1710, sponsored by Sen. Nick DiCeglie (R-Indian Rocks Beach), passed the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee in a 6-2 party-line vote.
If enacted, the legislation would:
- Prohibit state funding for DEI offices or officers in Florida’s medical schools.
- Mandate standardized science-based admissions tests for applicants to medical institutions.
- Require recipients of state contracts and grants to certify that they will not use public funds on DEI initiatives.
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The bill defines DEI efforts as any attempt to “manipulate or otherwise influence the composition of employees with reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity, other than ensuring colorblind and race-neutral hiring in accordance with state and federal anti-discrimination laws.”
Sen. Nick DiCeglie, the bill’s sponsor, argued that DEI initiatives have not achieved their intended goals and instead have created unfair hiring and admissions practices.
“What I do know is I think that these DEI programs, over time, have just proven to be ineffective,” DiCeglie said. “I think they’ve been proven to have the opposite effect of what they were intended. And I think that we have a situation, quite frankly, where it’s become unfair for an individual who is looking to be judged on a specific skill set or personal ability.”
Democrats and opponents of the bill warned that it could disproportionately affect minority-serving institutions and diversity programs at state-funded universities.
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Sen. Tina Polsky (D-Boca Raton) questioned how the bill would impact Florida A&M University (FAMU), a historically Black college and university (HBCU) that has traditionally considered race in its admissions and faculty hiring.
“We have state agencies that fund public universities. We have a public university that is a historically Black college (Florida A&M University) that is not colorblind when it comes to acceptances and what they chose to study and their faculty,” Polsky said. “How is that going to be allowable from the (state university system’s) Board of Governors to fund a school like that under these policies?”
The advancement of SB 1710 follows a broader Republican-led effort in Florida to dismantle DEI programs across education, healthcare, and government institutions.
Under Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida has defunded DEI programs in public universities, banned DEI-related training in workplaces, and restricted race-conscious hiring practices in state agencies.
The bill now moves to the full Senate, where it is expected to face additional debate. If passed, it would further solidify Florida’s stance against race-based and gender-based DEI policies in publicly funded institutions.
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