By Ted Clifford
STATE HOUSE A pair of bills in the state General Assembly that broadly target diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in South Carolina are causing waves among South Carolina businesses because companies that work with state government would be required to pledge they do not have any such program.
The bills, called “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity Act,” would prohibit any part of the South Carolina government from promoting DEI policies. As part of that push, any entity receiving a contract or grant from the state must “certify that they do not operate any programs that promote equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
The bills, filed in the House and Senate, also require companies to ensure that their subcontractors do not employ any DEI policies.
“Certainly the state of South Carolina can have an anti-DEI policy for the state, but we don’t believe that the state should be coercing private business about how they handle their HR policies,” said Frank Knapp of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. “As long as HR and private businesses are not violating constitutional protections we just don’t need that. I mean, what’s next?”
The stated intention of the bills is to protect South Carolinians from discrimination through “illegal” diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs. These programs have undermined national unity and key industries, including health care and aviation, according to the bill’s text.
“In case after tragic case, South Carolinians have witnessed first-hand the disastrous consequences of illegal, pernicious discrimination that has prioritized how people were born instead of what they were capable of doing,” according to the bill.
Its language and intention appears to mirror efforts by President Donald Trump to eliminate DEI policies at the federal level. In one of his first executive actions, Trump terminated the consideration of DEI criteria in federal contracts — a federal judge has since blocked part of that order.
But with 77 representatives — more than 60 % of House members — signing on as sponsors, the bill is not a fringe piece of law.
The State has reached out to lead sponsors of the House bill, Rep. Leon “Doug” Gilliam, R-Union; Majority Leader David Hiott, R-Pickens; and Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter.
The bills also prohibit any state agency from establishing or maintaining a DEI office or hiring outside contractors to perform DEI work. All hiring must be “color-blind and sexneutral… in accordance with any applicable state and federal antidiscrimination laws.”
State agencies are also prohibited from conducting any trainings, programs or promoting any policies “in reference to race, sex, color, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.”
And the bill prohibits any state institution, including schools, from requiring anyone enrolling to participate in a “training or program…. designed or implemented in reference to race, sex, color, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.”