Summary of Original Version

Create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to define terms; provide that a student or employee of a public postsecondary education institution shall not be penalized, discriminated against, or receive any adverse treatment due to the individual's refusal to support or endorse any divisive concept; provide that a student or employee of a public postsecondary education institution shall not be required to endorse a specific ideology or political viewpoint to be eligible for hiring, contract renewal, tenure, promotion, or graduation and prohibit an institution from inquiring into the individual's political or social viewpoints; provide that any person aggrieved by a violation of this Act has a cause of action against the institution for damages and costs of no less than $1,000 and no more than $100,000 per violation; waive sovereign, governmental, and qualified immunity; require the job duties of any individual employed in a diversity, equity, and inclusion role to include the promotion of intellectual diversity; provide that nothing in the section shall be interpreted to infringe upon designated rights of an institution's ability to comply with state or federal law or accreditation standards; require each public postsecondary education institution to conduct a survey in 2025 and 2027 of the institution's students and employees to assess the campus climate with regard to diversity of thought and the respondents' comfort level in speaking freely on campus, regardless of political affiliation or ideology.

Summary of Amendment: Senate Committee Substitute 1

Summary Retain original provisions, except change the term divisive concepts to discriminatory concepts; prohibit a public postsecondary education institution from providing preferential or prejudicial consideration or treatment to an individual on the basis of the individual's actual or perceived political or social ideology; prohibit a public postsecondary education institution from requiring a course that presents a discriminatory concepts as fact or otherwise advocates for any individual to assent to or support a discriminatory concepts as a prerequisite, program requirement, or general education course; establish requirements for new student orientation programs; require atleast 50% of diversity initiative employees' duties to be allocated to mentoring and providing academic coaching and related learning support activities necessary for the academic success of students who are eligible to receive a federal Pell grant; remove the private cause of action for a violation of this Act; authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action for enforcement of this Act; create a new section of KRS Chapter 164 to require public postsecondary education institutions to publish designated course information to the institution's website; amend KRS 164.348 to conform.

Summary of Amendment: Senate Floor Amendment 1 -- G. Neal

Summary Retain all original provisions except require the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) to develop new student orientation materials that contain designated items for institutions to distribute; amend the mandatory duties of a diversity, equity, and employee of a public postsecondary education institution; delete the authority of the Attorney General to enforce the Act and authorize CPE to promulgate administrative regulations to enforce this Act.

Summary of Amendment: House Committee Substitute 1

Summary Delete original provisions; create new sections of KRS Chapter 164 to define terms; prohibit a public postsecondary education institution from providing differential treatment or benefits on the basis of an individual's religion, race, sex, color, or national origin; from influencing the composition of the student body or scholarship recipients on the basis of religion, race, sex, color, or national origin; from implementing a student housing assignment plan on the basis of religion, race, color, or national origin with designated exceptions; from expending any resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the promotion of discriminatory topics, or bias incident investigations; from soliciting statements on an applicant's experience with or views on religion, race, sex, color, or national origin; from requiring a course or training on diversity, equity, and inclusion or discriminatory concepts as a program requirement; or disseminating or profiting from any research, work product, or material that promotes or justifies discriminatory concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion; establish exclusions; require each governing board of a public postsecondary education institution to amend the institution's policy on nondiscrimination to include a clause on ideological neutrality that prohibits institutional discrimination on the basis of an individual's political or social ideology; prohibit a public postsecondary education institution from requiring or encouraging any individual to endorse or condemn a specific political or social ideology or from providing preferential or prejudicial consideration or treatment to an individual on the basis of that individual's actual or perceived political or social ideology; prohibit the Council on Postsecondary Education from providing differential treatment or benefits on the basis of an individual's religion, race, sex, color, or national origin or from expending any resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion or discriminatory topics; establish exclusions for legal compliance; require each governing board of a public postsecondary education institution to ensure compliance with specific sections of this Act no later than June 30, 2024; authorize the Attorney General to bring an action for a writ of mandamus to compel the council or a public postsecondary education institution to comply; create a cause of action to permit a qualified individual to file a civil action against council or a public postsecondary education institution for injunctive relief and damages arising from a violation of this Act; waive sovereign and governmental immunity; prohibit retaliation; require each public postsecondary education institution to submit and publish a certified annual report on governmentally mandated discrimination to the Legislative Research Commission by October 1 each year; provide that a public postsecondary education institution or the council cannot claim a federal, state, judicial, contractual, or accreditation mandate as a defense to a civil action filed under this Act unless the policy, practice, or procedure upon which the complaint is founded is listed and clearly and accurately described in the public institution's annual report on governmentally mandated discrimination; require the council to develop and publish an annual assessment to evaluate intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity at public postsecondary education institutions; require each institution to annually distribute the assessment to all students, faculty, and staff and publish the results; require each public postsecondary education institution to provide the Personnel Cabinet and State Treasurer the name, job title, duty station, and salary or wages each month beginning January 1, 2025, and to post its itemized annual budget; amend KRS 164.020 to prohibit the Council on Postsecondary Education from approving a degree, certificate, or diploma program that includes discriminatory concepts or diversity, equity, and inclusion iniatives; direct the Council on Postsecondary Education to consider certain enumeratedconditions when considering the elimination of an existing program; direct each public postsecondary education institution and the Council on Postsecondary Education to discontinue designated programs and follow designated procedures when implementing this Act; provide specific instructions for public postsecondary education institutions and the Council on Postsecondary Education to follow in implementing this Act; direct public postsecondary education institutions and the council to submit a report on implementation of this Act; require public postsecondary education institutions to submit a series of reports on historical employment data for diversity, equity, and inclusion employees; EMERGENCY.

Summary of Amendment: House Floor Amendment 1 -- R. Roberts

Summary Retain original provisions, except remove the waiver of sovereign and governmental immunity for any claim filed under this section.

Summary of Amendment: House Floor Amendment 2 -- R. Roberts

Summary Retain all original provisions, except remove donations, endowments, grants, gifts, or any other source from the definition of “Resource."

Summary of Amendment: House Floor Amendment 3 -- C. Stevenson

Summary Retain all original provisions; provide that a policy or practice that is required pursuant to National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I compliance standards shall be excluded from the definition of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; provide that nothing in the bill shall impact compliance with National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I compliance standards.

Summary of Amendment: House Floor Amendment 4 -- R. Roberts

Summary Retain original provisions, except remove any prohibitions that would relate to financial assistance or scholarships.

Summary of Amendment: House Floor Amendment 5 -- C. Aull

Summary Retain all original provisions; provide that a policy or practice that is required pursuant to institutional or program accreditation standards shall be excluded from the definition of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; provide that nothing in the bill shall impact program accreditations.

Summary of Amendment: House Floor Amendment 6 -- R. Roberts

Summary Retain original provisions, except remove the opportunity for qualified individuals to bring civil claims to seek enforcement of this Act.

Summary of Amendment: House Floor Amendment 7 -- R. Roberts

Summary Retain original provisions, except remove prohibitions related to diversity, equirty, and inclusion offices and officers.

Summary of Amendment: House Floor Amendment 8 -- R. Roberts

Summary Retain original provisions, except remove the any restrictions upon the Council on Postsecondary Education related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Summary of Amendment: House Floor Amendment 9 -- J. Calloway

Summary Retain original provisions , except amend KRS 164.092 to replace all references to "underrepresented minority students" in the performance based funding model for postsecondary education institutions with "underrepresented students"; define the term.

Statutes affected:
Senate Committee Substitute 1: 164.348
House Committee Substitute 1: 164.020
Current: 164.348