Senator Patricia Rucker, the newly-named chairwoman of the Senate Government Organization committee, says she will bring back legislation called the “Restoring Sanity Act” that would codify restrictions on the use of diversity, equity and inclusion standards.
“I have asked to reintroduce it,” Rucker, R-Jefferson, said on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
The bill, if it were to gain traction, would be another in a series of state and federal actions to crack down on diversity, equityand inclusion standards often called by the acronym DEI.
The concept is a set of policies in business, government and academia created to address systemic inequities faced by certain groups.
President Donald Trump and social conservatives have taken aim at the policies as a kind of reverse discrimination. An executive order the president issued on his return to office called the diversity and inclusion programs “dangerous, demeaning and immoral.”
Trump’s executive order was titled “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity.” It is aimed at dismantling diversity programs from all aspects of the federal government. The order also extended to federal contractors and other private entities.
This week, Trump ordered all US government staff working on diversity, equity and inclusion programs be put on immediate paid administrative leave. The Trump administration asked federal employees to expose any of their colleagues still working on diversity programs.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, on his first day in office, issued an executive order titled “ordering the cessation of DEI.” The order says no state office under the governor’s authority or any entity receiving state funds may allow “preferences based on one person’s particular race, color, sex, ethnicity, or national origin over that of another.”
Morrisey’s executive order took criticism from free speech organizations that say it’s too broad and from others who say it’s based on malarkey.
“Morrisey is creating a DEI boogeyman that doesn’t exist,” said House of Delegates Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell.
“But his recent executive orders give us grave concern he is taking us backward and isn’t thinking about all West Virginians.”
A member of the House who spent his early years in Guatemala, Delegate Elias Coop-Gonzalez, said he supports the actions to curb diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“Merit is what should put people at the front of the line, not skin color. I totally support Governor Morrisey and Patricia Rucker in their endeavors to rid DEI practices from the state,” said Coop-Gonzalez, R-Randolph.
West Virginia Senator Rucker, who was born in Venezuela, said voters expect elected officials to address issues like critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
“Opposition has claimed that there is no need to do this because it isn’t happening,” she said on “Talkline.” “Yet we continue to get stories from constituents in our public institutions who are facing what I call discrimination based on these type of policies.”
Ninety-three percent of West Virginia’s population is White and almost 4% of residents are Black, according to the U.S. Census. About 2% of state residents are Hispanic.
Rucker agreed on the statewide radio program that diversity programs in West Virginia are “not that big a deal.”
But she continued by saying, “I will tell you one of the reasons for why I consider it, honestly, offensive — this idea that as a minority person myself, people trying to claim that I could not get where I have gotten to unless someone gave me a hands up and lowered the expectation, that’s offensive. I don’t believe it.
“And I don’t think it’s really the way that we want to improve our country, improve our state, help people by giving them the tools that they need to be the best at whatever it is they want to do, but it should never be based on race or color of their skin.”
Last year’s “Restoring Sanity Act” sponsored by Rucker, SB 870, advanced through the Senate Education Committee and then stalled out in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
With a shuffling of leadership and committee chairs this year, the bill could stand a better chance of advancing.
It was an omnibus with a lot of moving parts. Many aspects moved to restrict the use of diversity, equity and inclusion standards.
In higher education, inclusion offices and officers would be prohibited. That section would bar “any effort to promote or promulgate trainings, programming, or activities designed or implemented with reference to race, color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”
A section of the bill was called the “Anti-Racism Act of 2024” and would have mandated that state educators may not require instruction that “one race, ethnic group, or biological sex is morally or intellectually superior to another race, ethnic group, or biological sex for any inherent or innate reason.”
Additional prohibitions include requiring instruction that “an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of the individual’s race, ethnicity, or biological sex.”
Not prohibited would be discussion of theories surrounding those concepts if competing ideas are discussed too. And not prohibited would be discussion of the ways race, ethnicity or biological sex have affected historical or current events. People who determine a violation of the prohibitions may file complaints.
Another section of the “Restoring Sanity Act” dealt with pronouns. That section specified that educators do not have to use a student’s preferred pronoun if it’s not consistent with the student’s biological sex. The legislation indicated educators would not be civilly liable or subject to employment actions if they ignore the pronoun a student wants.
“It’s actually legislation that has language that I’ve worked with ACLU on and also the higher education institutions,” Rucker said on “Talkline.” “And really it’s just about making certain that we are respecting people’s constitutional rights.
“So it should, I hope, get through this year with hopefully no hiccups. But I also will tell you that there are many, many institutions and many, many places that it won’t affect anything because they’re not doing it. It’s really just to make certain it’s not happening in the few institutions where it may be happening.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia says it has not worked with the senator on those policies.
“ACLU-WV publicly opposed this malicious legislation last year, and we are unaware of any conversations between any individual staff members and Senator Rucker regarding the language of the bill,” said Billy Wolfe, communications director for the orgnization.
“To claim that we support the bill is patently false. In fact, we will strongly consider litigation against the state if it becomes law and is enforced.”