Republicans in the North Carolina House successfully overrode four of Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes Wednesday, after the bills had been sitting on the House’s calendar for nearly a year.
Three bills prohibit Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - or DEI - policies in state government and public education. The fourth requires state law enforcement agencies to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Republicans were finally able to override the governor’s vetoes because two House members who represented possible swing votes were absent.
What’s in the DEI bills?
Senate Bill 227 prohibits K-12 schools from teaching or promoting a list of 12 “divisive concepts” that are inherently racist, sexist or unlawful, framing DEI programs as policies that demand people to judge others based on race, sex or other protected classes.
Groups that promote DEI policies in public education, like the National Society of High School Scholars, instead describe them as programs that “allow for healthy debates around race, gender identity, income-inequality, and other forms of discrimination.”
The measure makes exceptions for speech protected by the First Amendment and instruction on historical oppression, provided that it is taught in an impartial manner.
“Senate Bill 227 raises concerns about what it could mean for those very qualities that make North Carolina's public schools strong,” State Superintendent Mo Green and state Board of Education chair Eric Davis said in a joint statement released Thursday. “Moreover, we believe the law leaves educators with genuine questions about how to apply it.”
Senate Bill 558 does roughly the same thing for public universities. For students, parents, and staff, that could mean closures of any remaining DEI offices and changes in employee diversity training. Instructors at public universities can still discuss the list of “divisive concepts,” but can not endorse them or require students to endorse them.
The state Senate had already overridden both of Gov. Stein’s vetoes on these bills, so they are now law.
House Bill 171 targets DEI programs in state and local governments. It bars public funds from being used for DEI initiatives, offices, staff positions, or training. It says it is not meant to violate federal civil rights laws or restrict reasonable accommodations for protected classes.
House Bill 171 still needs to be overridden by the state Senate to become law.
What’s in the immigration bill?
Senate Bill 153 requires state law enforcement agencies – including the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Adult Correction, the state Highway Patrol and the State Bureau of Investigation – to enter into formal 287(g) agreements with ICE.
The bill also waives immunity for local governments that violate the prohibition against sanctuary policies, meaning cities or counties could face civil lawsuits if someone who should be subject to an ICE detainer is released, and then commits a crime.
Senate Bill 153 is now law.
Why did this happen now?
State Reps. Carla Cunningham, a former Democrat turned unaffiliated representative from Mecklenburg County, and Shelly Willingham, a Democrat from Edgecombe County, were absent for the House’s voting session Wednesday.
That means there were 118 representatives present instead of 120, giving the 71 Republicans in the House barely enough votes to reach the three-fifths threshold required to override a veto.
“As I’ve said the whole session, whenever we have the votes on an override, we’re going to take them up,” Republican House Speaker Destin Hall told reporters after the votes. “So we weren’t hiding the ball. Today was the day.”
Cunningham and Willingham attended a meeting of the House Rules Committee Wednesday morning, but were the only two representatives who did not appear on the House floor that afternoon. Neither has responded to NC Local’s requests for comment.
They have both crossed party lines to vote with Republicans on certain issues, and they both lost their Democratic primary elections in March.
This article first appeared on NCLocal and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.