A Better Idea on DEI

The Joint Finance Committee is wrapping up its work on the two-year state budget. For the most part it looks like pretty good. There will be a lot more money for local governments and schools, and the process involved actual discussion and negotiation between the governor and legislative leaders. This is a big improvement from the last two budget cycles.

But there’s at least one hiccup that needs to be smoothed over before the document leaves the committee. Yesterday, Republicans tied themselves in knots over trying to figure out how to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the UW budget. Speaker Robin Vos claims those programs cost $32 million and he wanted that cut from the UW’s budget.

But it’s not that clear and simple and it’s not so easy to cut $32 million without harming things you don’t intend to cut, which is apparently why the committee wisely punted yesterday. They took no action and no action is something they should continue to take.

A better solution is to use other tools at the legislature’s disposal. For example, they could order up a Legislative Audit Bureau report on DEI programs. The LAB is a nonpartisan and widely respected agency. They could answer a lot of questions that hang around DEI. How many employees are actually engaged in it? How much money is spent on it? And, crucially, what exactly are DEI’s goals and are they being accomplished?

It’s fair to assume that there are a wide variety of policies and programs that fall under the general category of DEI. Some might be acceptable to Vos while others might not. But so far the attacks on DEI from Vos have been vague and anecdotal. He claims that the program has gone beyond just trying to increase diversity on campuses to indoctrination in a left-wing, intolerant orthodoxy. Maybe. Certainly, in the broader society, there is a hard-left faction that would short-circuit classical liberal values, like free speech, in the service of what they consider to be some higher good.

But exactly how far has that gone at the UW? And what are the specific program changes or eliminations that would solve the problem Vos broadly identifies? What might be needed here is a scalpel and yet Vos is using a tactical nuclear weapon.

That LAB report, which would probably take the better part of a year to finish, could be followed next summer with a Legislative Council study committee, which could take the information and thoughtfully craft legislative or other policies to create some guardrails for DEI. In the meantime, the UW would be on notice that its DEI programs are under scrutiny. That would be a good thing.

I don’t think it’s at all bad that Vos has raised these issues. I have plenty of my own concerns about this stuff. But the overall goal of increasing diversity of all kinds — racial, ethnic, family income, ideological — on campuses and making campuses welcoming places for everybody is a good thing. Have DEI programs gotten off track? More importantly, have they done any good to date?

Legislators aren’t equipped to answer those questions before they need to vote on the budget. A more thoughtful approach is the better way to go.