SC anti-DEI bill on pause as legislators consider changes

COLUMBIA — Debate stalled on a bill previously expected to pass Wednesday that would ban government agencies across South Carolina from requiring diversity training or mandating statements of inclusion.

After about two hours of discussion, House Education Chairwoman Shannon Erickson asked to halt the debate until Tuesday, a move rarely used by Republicans on the House floor once debate starts.

It’s normal for Democrats to make the motion on a bill pushed by Republicans, as they tried to do so earlier Wednesday. But their various procedural attempts to halt debate failed. And then, suddenly, the chairwoman of the committee that advanced the bill pressed pause herself.

“I just realized that I need a minute,” the Beaufort Republican told reporters afterward. “The committee deserves to put forth the best bill we can do.”

As amended by her committee last week, the bill bans all state agencies, public schools and local governments from considering a person’s race, gender or other aspects of their identity in hiring employees or accepting students. It bans governments from having offices or divisions dedicated “for the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

And it bans colleges specifically from demanding any political declaration from an applicant or employee.

House Democrats all oppose the bill. But in a supermajority GOP chamber, Republicans generally push through whatever they want in a single day, with the main question being how many hours they argue.

In putting debate on hold, Erickson said she wanted more time to read and consider the approximately two dozen amendments proposed Wednesday for changing the bill.

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Some seemed like good ideas, Erickson said, and she didn’t want to dismiss amendments that could improve the bill without giving them serious consideration.

“If I can’t get a minute to research it, then I don’t even know, would it be right of me to completely vote no on everything and not look at it?” she told reporters after the House adjourned.

About half of the proposed changes came from Democrats, caucus members said.

Democrats in the Legislative Black Caucus, who led the opposition Wednesday, said the move showed Republicans were not ready to defend their proposal.

House Democrats and activists held a news conference before the session began to condemn the bill. Opponents from across the state rearranged their schedules to stay for the debate, said Rep. Jermaine Johnson. The Columbia Democrat noted he had intended to be absent from the chamber Wednesday due to his father’s surgery but postponed his trip to be there for the floor fight.

“Those individuals in there decided to silence everybody across South Carolina today because they wanted to change some things,” he said outside the House chamber.

Democrats suggested the Republican caucus had fractured over the bill and needed time to regroup.

Erickson dismissed that. Every single Republican may not be on board, but the caucus has the votes needed to pass the bill, she said, adding that played no role in her decision.

Democrats will continue the fight when the debate resumes next week. In a show of solidarity against the bill, House Democrats dressed in black Wednesday.

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“The efforts that this bill is making to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion is worth mourning,” said Rep. Hamilton Grant, D-Columbia. “It is a sad day here in the state of South Carolina.”

Supporters of the bill insist it is not about ending diversity in the state but about ensuring hiring and opportunities are based on merit rather than identity traits. The bill comes amid a federal effort to ban DEI initiatives under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.

“DEI programs as we’ve seen in this country are a failed experiment,” said Rep. Tim McGinnis, R-Myrtle Beach.

As changed last week, the bill does not affect Black History Month events, teacher recruitment initiatives for Black men, school curriculum teaching about the Holocaust, programs for veterans with disabilities or local Pride events, McGinnis said.

Those were all programs that opponents said the original bill would eliminate. That version also would have extended to state contractors and other organizations.

At the morning news conference, a University of South Carolina professor said DEI programs started in the first place because Black people, women and other people with marginalized identities have historically been shut out of certain opportunities because of their identity.

“The playing field is not level,” said Susi Long, an English professor at USC.

Passing the bill could scare away businesses looking to open in the state and students considering South Carolina colleges, Rep. John King said. He called on Black students to stay away, calling the bill hostile toward them.

“They don’t want diversity here,” the Rock Hill Democrat said on the floor to Black students considering coming to the state. “Stay away from South Carolina.”