Anti-DEI proposal was killed on the House floor. How did SC’s Democrats defeat it for now?
An effort to bar the use of diversity, equity and inclusion by schools and school districts with the state budget was killed on the House floor by Democrats.
But it doesn’t mean efforts to bar diversity, equity and inclusion are done. House Republicans will make another push in the coming weeks, as removing DEI practices in the state is a House GOP priority during the two-year session in the Republican dominated chamber.
In hour 13 of the House budget debate Tuesday, the DEI-related proviso was removed from the budget as Democrats used the chamber’s rules to their advantage.
A proviso is a one-year law attached to the annual spending plan adopted by the General Assembly. Provisos can get renewed year after year without any debate, but also can be removed during budget discussions or through a line-item veto.
State Rep. Nathan Ballentine, R-Richland, proposed preventing the state’s universities, school districts, quasi-state agencies and political subdivisions from using state money to support DEI programs, offices or statements, except where required by state or federal law.
He also included exceptions to allow entities to highlight support for first-generation, low-income or underserved students, or certify anti-discrimination compliance when applying for grants or accreditation.
The proviso would not have prohibited academic instruction, research, student organizations, guest speakers, race-neutral academic policies, data collection or First Amendment-protected speech.
The approach was meant to be a scalpel as opposed to a sledge hammer approach in a traditional piece of legislation that is sponsored by almost every Republican in the House aimed at banning DEI practices in state agencies and state contractors.
The proviso was meant as a safeguard in case the Senate doesn’t take up the DEI bill this year.
Under House rules, a proviso that’s added to the budget has to deal with spending money.
Several amendments proposed by the House Freedom Caucus were ruled out of order on Monday and Tuesday during the debate because they violated the House rules for not explicitly directing how money is spent.
So, state Rep. Annie McDaniel, D-Fairfield, who chairs the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus, called a point-of-order on the proviso itself, arguing it was not germane to the budget.
“I do not see where it is dealing with the allocation of any funds. I do not see where it is part of a statute already existing,” McDaniel said on the House floor. “It just seems to be totally out of place and out of order in this budget.”
Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister argued the proviso tied directly to those tuition mitigation money and limited how the public colleges and universities use state cash meant to freeze tuition rates.
After about 50 minutes of taking the question under advisement and discussions in private offices while debate on other amendments took place, House Republican leadership agreed with McDaniel and sustained her point of order, killing the proviso.
“If the purpose of the amendment is to do something other than spend funds, we’ve been ruling it out order,” said House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens told the State late Tuesday night.
“She was correct. We went back there. We took it under advisement. We all got together and to be to be consistent and right. The main purpose of the (proviso) was to eliminate DEI on all college campuses. But the funding part was not in the proviso,” Hiott added.
While McDaniel’s won her argument, House Republicans will still push anti-DEI legislation. The House Education and Public Works Committee is scheduled to have a hearing on the DEI bill next week. If it passes out of committee, a vote on the floor is expected the following week.
During the budget debate, state Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, who chairs the House Education Committee, had a meeting with House Freedom Caucus members state Reps. Josiah Magnunson, R-Spartanburg, and Jordan Pace, R-Berkeley. Later the three were seen leaving a meeting in a private office with Hiott and House Speaker Murrell Smith.
“We’re just updating (them) because the Freedom Caucus guys were concerned about the DEI part as well so we just brought them up speed as to what we were doing,” Hiott said Tuesday.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
