Under Assembly Joint Resolution 102, government entities would be prohibited from “discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting, or public administration.”

Before Wisconsin legislators can send a resolution to voters, the resolution must receive approval in two legislative years. Lawmakers first approved the proposed amendment during the 2023–24 session, then gave it second approval this January, sending it to voters this fall.

Critically, if voters support the resolution on Nov. 3, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers would not be able to veto it; Evers is a staunch supporter of DEI initiatives.

“The proposed Wisconsin constitutional amendment is substantively identical to California 209 passed in 1996 which established equality as a matter of state constitutional law across government and public entities,” William A. Jacobson, the president and founder of the Equal Protection Project, a university and DEI watchdog organization, told Campus Reform.

Proposition 209 in California prohibited affirmative action programs to grant preferential treatment to minorities, although, according to Jacobson, state entities have bypassed the measure through DEI. However, he still supports the Wisconsin resolution.

“This would be a positive development for Wisconsin as it would remove any purported legal basis for discrimination in public entities and state contracting,” he explained.

“That doesn’t mean it would accomplish its equality goals quickly,” he continued. “The discrimination of the DEI movement exists in California and elsewhere despite contrary law. But enshrining these principles in the state constitution will make it harder to justify and give pro-equality advocates a powerful legal tool.”

Read the rest of Campus Reform’s article here.