Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1521 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R4133 RDS-F
2	2	By: Gerdes H.B. No. 1521
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the implementation of diversity, equity, and inclusion
10	10	initiatives by certain governmental entities.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 6, Government Code, is amended
13	13	by adding Chapter 621 to read as follows:
14	14	CHAPTER 621. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND
15	15	INCLUSION INITIATIVES
16	16	Sec. 621.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
17	17	(1) "Diversity, equity, and inclusion office" means an
18	18	office, division, or other unit of a governmental entity
19	19	established for the purpose of:
20	20	(A) influencing hiring or employment practices
21	21	or workforce composition at the entity with respect to race, sex,
22	22	color, or ethnicity, other than through the use of color-blind,
23	23	race-neutral, and sex-neutral hiring processes in accordance with
24	24	any applicable state and federal antidiscrimination laws;
25	25	(B) promoting differential treatment or
26	26	providing special benefits to individuals on the basis of race,
27	27	sex, color, or ethnicity;
28	28	(C) promoting policies or procedures designed or
29	29	implemented in reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity, other
30	30	than policies or procedures:
31	31	(i) approved in writing by the attorney
32	32	general; and
33	33	(ii) implemented for the sole purpose of
34	34	ensuring compliance with any applicable federal law;
35	35	(D) conducting trainings, programs, or
36	36	activities designed or implemented in reference to race, sex,
37	37	color, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation, other
38	38	than trainings, programs, or activities:
39	39	(i) developed by an attorney;
40	40	(ii) approved in writing by the attorney
41	41	general; and
42	42	(iii) conducted for the sole purpose of
43	43	ensuring compliance with any applicable court order or state or
44	44	federal law; or
45	45	(E) promoting, as an official position of the
46	46	entity, a particular opinion referencing unconscious or implicit
47	47	bias, cultural appropriation, allyship, transgender ideology,
48	48	microaggressions, group marginalization, anti-racism, systemic
49	49	oppression, social justice, intersectionality, neo-pronouns,
50	50	heteronormativity, disparate impact, gender theory, racial or
51	51	sexual privilege, or any related formulation of the these concepts.
52	52	(2) "Governmental entity" means:
53	53	(A) a department, commission, board, office, or
54	54	other agency that is in the executive branch of state government and
55	55	that was created by the constitution or a statute, other than an
56	56	institution of higher education as defined by Section 61.003,
57	57	Education Code;
58	58	(B) the legislature or a legislative state
59	59	agency;
60	60	(C) the supreme court, the court of criminal
61	61	appeals, a court of appeals, a district court, or the Texas Judicial
62	62	Council or another agency in the judicial branch of state
63	63	government;
64	64	(D) a county, municipality, special purpose
65	65	district, including a school district, or any other political
66	66	subdivision of this state; or
67	67	(E) an open-enrollment charter school
68	68	established under Subchapter D, Chapter 12, Education Code.
69	69	Sec. 621.002. RESPONSIBILITY OF GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY
70	70	REGARDING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION INITIATIVES. A
71	71	governmental entity shall ensure that each unit of the entity does
72	72	not, except as required by federal law:
73	73	(1) establish or maintain a diversity, equity, and
74	74	inclusion office; or
75	75	(2) hire or assign an employee of the entity or
76	76	contract with a third party to perform the duties of a diversity,
77	77	equity, and inclusion office.
78	78	Sec. 621.003. COMPLAINT; ENFORCEMENT. (a) A person who has
79	79	a reasonable belief that a governmental entity is violating this
80	80	chapter may file a complaint with the attorney general.
81	81	(b) If the attorney general determines that a governmental
82	82	entity named in a complaint received under Subsection (a) is
83	83	violating this chapter, the attorney general may file a petition
84	84	for a writ of mandamus to compel the governmental entity to comply
85	85	with this chapter.
86	86	(c) A mandamus action under Subsection (b) must be filed in:
87	87	(1) Travis County, if the governmental entity is an
88	88	entity described by Section 621.001(2)(A)-(C); or
89	89	(2) the county in which the governmental entity is
90	90	located, if the governmental entity is an entity described by
91	91	Section 621.001(2)(D) or (E).
92	92	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
93	93	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
94	94	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
95	95	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
96	96	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.