Bill Description: Senate Bill 1198 eliminates and prohibits all DEI related offices, initiatives, programs, and employees within public institutions of higher education; it also prohibits bias reporting systems, mandatory DEI related coursework, and discriminatory practices in admissions and employment decisions. 

Analyst Note: Senate Bill 1198 is effectively the same as Senate Bill 1048 introduced earlier in the session. SB 1198 largely clarifies the intent of the language of SB 1048, such as specifying that only private institutions that receive funds directly appropriated to it by the legislature are subject to its provisions. The only significant change is regarding the enforcement mechanism, which now requires any private cause of action to be heard in the county in which the college or university is located, a cure period before enforcement by the Attorney General, and a significant reduction of the maximum fine the Attorney General can pursue. 

Rating: +5

Does it increase government spending (for objectionable purposes) or debt? Conversely, does it decrease government spending or debt?

Senate Bill 1198 eliminates all DEI related programs, initiatives, offices, and employees, thus ending Idaho’s system of higher education’s objectionable practice of using taxpayer dollars to promote divisive ideology. The bill estimates that it will save $3.8 million if all 51 associated DEI personnel in Idaho’s colleges and universities are terminated. 

(+1)

Does it in any way restrict public access to information related to government activity or otherwise compromise government transparency, accountability, or election integrity? Conversely, does it increase public access to information related to government activity or increase government transparency, accountability, or election integrity?

Senate Bill 1198 requires every public institution of higher education to “submit an annual report to the attorney general and the education committees of both the house of representatives and the senate signed by the president of the institution of higher education certifying that the institution is in compliance with this section.” The first year iteration of this report must include all DEI offices, programs, initiatives, employees, officers, training, activities, and courses of instruction that have existed within our system of public higher education within the preceding two years. As such, these requirements will reveal to the public the true extent to which Idaho’s colleges and universities have been captured by radical, marxist ideology. 

The bill also adds an additional layer of accountability by providing for a private cause of action and granting the Attorney General the authority to seek up to two percent of  “the amount of the institution of higher education's operating expenses for the offending division, office, center, or unit within the institution of higher education where the violation occurred.” The experience of other states has shown that colleges and universities will seek to circumvent DEI bans by rebanding offices, employees, and initiatives. This provision will ensure that Idaho’s public institutions of higher education are held accountable for any future violations of this act. 

(+1)

Does it violate the principle of equal protection under the law? Examples include laws that discriminate or differentiate based on age, gender, or religion or which apply laws, regulations, rules, or penalties differently based on such characteristics. conversely, does it restore or protect the principle of equal protection under the law?

Senate Bill 1198 upholds the 14th Amendment of the Constitution by prohibiting all public institutions of higher education in the state of Idaho from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to a prospective employee or student on account of their race, race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in employment and admissions decisions. 

It also prohibits “any program, decision-making process, or initiative” that provides “differential treatment of, or providing special benefit to, individuals on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, sex, disability, or religion.”

(+1)

Does it violate the spirit or the letter of either the United States Constitution or the Idaho Constitution? Examples include restrictions on speech, public assembly, the press, privacy, private property, or firearms. conversely, does it restore or uphold the protections guaranteed in the US Constitution or the Idaho Constitution?

Senate Bill 1198 prohibits public institutions of higher education from establishing, sustaining, supporting, or staffing any bias reporting system, thus safeguarding constitutionally protected speech on Idaho’s college and university campuses from unjust censorship. 

(+1)

Does it promote the breakdown of the traditional family or the deconstruction of societal norms? Examples include promoting or incentivizing degeneracy, violating parental rights, and compromising the innocence of children. Conversely, does it protect or uphold the structure, tenets, and traditional values of Western society?

Senate Bill 1198  “eliminate(s) all programs and initiatives within all public institutions of higher education predicated on the tenets of critical theory” and also prohibits mandatory DEI related coursework. These prohibitions protect and uphold traditional Western values by purging subversive ideologies such as critical race theory, gender ideology, and postcolonialism from the administration of Idaho’s colleges and universities. The bill also explicitly reaffirms the uniquely American principle of free inquiry.

(+1)