Proposed Constitutional Amendment Would Ban Preferential Treatment

Saturday, February 17th, 2024 -- 8:16 AM

Governments, including schools, would be banned from giving preferential treatment to people on the basis of their race, sex or national origin under a proposed constitutional amendment that passed the Wisconsin Assembly Thursday.

Wisconsin Public Radio reports that the resolution is the latest in the Wisconsin GOP’s push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion practices, known as DEI. The joint resolution, which cleared the Assembly along a party line vote of 62-35, bars state and local governments, along with public schools and colleges, from “discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment” to any groups on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. The proposed amendment is supported by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, or WILL, while the Wisconsin chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Social Workers have registered against.

Written testimony from the Dane County chapter of the NAACP called the amendment unnecessary because state and federal laws barring discriminatory hiring practices already exist. This is the first consideration of the proposed amendment to Wisconsin’s constitution. Before it can be enacted, the measure  must pass both houses of the Legislature in two separate sessions and be approved by voters in a statewide referendum. 

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