The committee to discuss and vote on one of the most controversial bills of the Kentucky legislative session ended in a tidy 60 minutes, but it’s not for lack of speakers. Numerous citizens had signed up to speak against House Bill 4, which would eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at Kentucky public colleges.
After the bill’s Republican sponsor and her supporters gave their speech and answered questions for roughly 40 minutes, the committee chair GOP Rep. James Tipton from Taylorsville decided to allow 10 minutes total for opposition.
The legislation passed with the committee’s four Democrats voting “no.”
Students, professors, lawmakers and citizens said they were frustrated with the procedure of the committee hearing, questioning why citizen input was so constricted. After the vote concluded, one woman who said she teaches college courses approached the front of the committee room to confront lawmakers before Tipton asked a Kentucky State Police officer to remove her. A group of four students approached Tipton in the halls and argued with him over the intent of the bill.
Another dozen students gathered in front of the Capitol Annex building, where the hearing was held Tuesday, to speak against the bill. Brielle Green, a University of Louisville freshman studying history, said they feared the bill’s wording would hurt their own field of study.
“This bill's wording about ‘discriminatory topics’ erases history. You can't teach history without race. You can't teach history without gender,” Green said. “Topics threatened by poorly defined wording in this bill are only there to loom over students and educators.”
This year’s House Bill 4 would prevent colleges from using any resources on DEI initiatives, defined as a policy to “promote or provide differential treatment or benefits” based on a person’s religion, race, sex or national origin. It extends from employee hiring to student admissions and recruitment to student housing and scholarships. All university DEI offices and officers would have to close by June 30.
This is right after the hearing. Tipton tells students that people always say the sky is going to fall after passing legislation and it doesn’t happen. There’s their response:
— Sylvia Goodman (@sylviaruthg.lpm.org) 2025-03-04T17:26:04.837Z
The bill’s sponsor is Rep. Jennifer Decker, a Republican from Waddy. She sponsored a similar bill last year that ultimately failed to gain final legislative approval.
“Our low-income minorities are not on our campuses to the extent they were before all this started. What's to blame? I don't know. [Diversity, equity and inclusion] hasn't helped,” Decker said. “And if I were an advocate for the minority communities, which I am, this is damaging to the minority communities.”
Decker pointed to enrollment declines over a period she says coincided with the growth of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. She said it proves that the initiatives have not been effective. However, enrollment at 4-year public colleges dropped by 82 students between the 2014 and 2024 school years, according to Council for Postsecondary Education data. The enrollment of underrepresented minority students also increased over that period by about 45%. The number of low-income students did decrease over that time period by about 18%.
Democratic Rep. Sarah Stalker from Louisville said she believed eliminating diversity programs would make those numbers worse. She said the public university system needs to make up for “years of damage” and discriminatory practices.
“I think it's disingenuous to say that these efforts are not working when you think about years and years and years — decades — that universities have not been inclusive environments to many populations of people: people of color, women, our LGBTQ community, indigenous people,” Stalker said. “So many people who have been excluded from higher education.”
The bill frequently uses a definition of “discriminatory concept” as it seeks to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs and offices. It is defined as a concept that “justifies or promotes differential treatment or benefits conferred to individuals on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, or national origin,” with a few limited exceptions, like those required under federal law (like Title IX which prohibits sex-based discrimination or the Americans with Disabilities Act).
Decker also said the bill would rectify “unconstitutional” behavior at public institutions, saying the U.S. Supreme Court already decided such programs are not allowable under the equal protections provisions of the Constitution. In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the majority of justices ruled that race-based affirmative action programs in most college admissions are unconstitutional, which public Kentucky colleges say they already do not engage in.
A committee substitute, which only became available online after testimony of the bill began and was adopted in the hearing, eliminated a private right of action, meaning the attorney general and auditor would have the responsibility of enforcing the legislation. It also would stop licensing authorities from requiring diversity, equity and inclusion training to get, revoke or renew a professional license.
Eric Russ, executive director of the Kentucky Psychological Association, opposed the bill. He said it takes away licensure boards from requiring the training it deems appropriate.
“HB 4 continues to threaten our ability to recruit and retain top psychology and other health care researchers and trainees in Kentucky, already a difficult task,” Russ told the committee. “We know from decades of social and organizational psychological science that diverse, equitable and inclusive policies and programs are critical drivers of employee and student engagement, turnover and innovation.”
Jennifer Jackson, the president of the League of Women Voters of Kentucky, came to testify against the bill, but was not allowed due to time constraints. She confronted Tipton outside the committee room about her inability to testify and the last minute substitute.
“When you have a lot of people that are showing up and want to speak, and particularly people who are directly affected, I think it's important that we allow people the time to do that, and if we need to wait on voting on a bill to allow that public comment, then maybe that's what we need to do,” Jackson told Kentucky Public Radio. “Why are we pushing through 1,100 pieces of legislation when we don't have time to adequately discuss what is in those pieces of legislation?”
Jackson also criticized the fact-tracking move already utilized on the bill. The state Constitution requires each bill be read three times on the chamber floor before receiving a full vote after it passes committee. To shorten that timeframe, HB 4 was read once on the House floor Friday, meaning it can come up for a full vote as early as Wednesday on the House floor.
As people questioned Tipton outside the committee room, pushing him on the bill’s justification, he defended his decision to give the bill its hearing and pass it through. He said colleges need to get back to focusing on student success. He said HB 4 is the product of four years of work.
“I know a lot of people in my community that are struggling in life. We have generational poverty in this country. In this state, we have a lot of generational poverty,” Tipton said. “Education is going to be the key to overcome generational poverty. We can all agree to disagree on how to go forward.”
