The Georgia Senate approved House Bill 127 by a 33–21 vote, a measure that would ban preferential treatment in public colleges and schools based on race and other factors.
HB 127 was originally intended to provide teachers with two additional days of sick leave but was later amended into a measure that would financially penalize educational institutions that embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
The bill sparked two hours of intense debate, touching on themes from the Civil Rights Movement, segregation, the Civil War, and slavery. Senator Max Burns, who sponsored the legislation, said, “If you believe that discrimination in any form is wrong, then this legislation aligns with making sure that discrimination does not happen in any form.”
During a committee hearing last week, another Republican senator argued the bill was necessary because DEI had morphed into “neo-Marxist ideology” that had infiltrated Georgia’s universities and stifled academic freedom.
The bill now returns to the House for a possible vote on final approval before the legislative session ends.
