By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Governor Andy Beshear announced on Thursday, March 20, his veto of the Republican-backed bill that would eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives at public universities.
Beshear signed the veto in a social media post saying Kentuckians had worked “hard to make our commonwealth a welcoming place [and] House Bill 4 takes us away from that.”
“I’ll always believe that diversity is a strength and never a weakness; that we are better with more voices and more seats at our table,” Beshear said in his social media video. “Now, I believe in the golden rule that says we love our neighbor as ourself and there are no exceptions, no asterisks to that. We love and accept everyone. This bill isn’t about love. House Bill 4 is about hate. So I’m going to try a little act of love right now, and I’m going to veto it right now.”
In his veto message, Beshear said the bill “shrinks the table” and “forecloses university and colleges from fully embracing students from communities of color, from various faiths, women and the LGBT community” by controlling “how universities and colleges meet the needs of their students.”
“History may look at this time and this bill as part of the anti-civil rights or pro-discrimination movement,” Beshear wrote in his veto message. “Kentucky should not be a part of that movement.”
The veto period ends on March 26 after which the Kentucky Legislature will reconvene March 27 and 28 where it is possible the Republican supermajority will overturn his veto, thus making it the law of the commonwealth.
House Bill 4 would “prohibit public postsecondary education institutions from providing [, or influencing,] differential treatment or benefits on the basis of an individual’s religion, race, sex, color, or national origin.”
The bill was introduced to the House of Representatives on Feb. 12 by Northern Kentucky Representative Jennifer Decker (R) and 24 other Republicans and was passed in the House by a vote of 81 to 18 on March 6 with Barren County Representative Steve Riley voting in favor. After emerging from the education committee, House Bill 4 passed the Senate by a margin of 32 to 6 — with Senator David Givens’ “yea” vote — and delivered to the governor on March 13.
Both Western Kentucky University and Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College are public institutions.
Beshear’s full veto message can be read at this link.
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