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When asked whether the establishment of DEI offices in public institutions and private businesses make the state better or worse, 45% of respondents said DEI programs have had a positive impact on Utah, 24% said the effect on the state has been negative, 17% said DEI offices haven’t made a difference one way or the other and 13% said they didn’t know.

Despite the favorable connotation associated with words like “diversity” and “inclusion,” DEI has become a flashpoint in the national culture war, with outright bans on DEI funding or hiring requirements on university campuses recently becoming law in several states.

“The biggest issue with DEI now, and its messaging, is it makes it seem like race is to determine your outcome in life,” Keimon Dixson said.

Utah's new DEI bill was signed into law by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Jan. 30. It will outlaw DEI trainings, requirements, programs and offices at public universities, schools “or any other institution of the state” that engages in what the legislation calls “prohibited discriminatory practices.”

House passes bill to end ranked choice voting option for Utah cities

The Utah House voted Thursday to remove ranked choice voting as an option for city elections more than a year before the pilot program’s original expiration date.

Citing complications with its implementation and lack of enthusiasm for an alternate electoral system, freshman lawmaker Rep. Katy Hall, R-South Ogden, said it was time to abandon Utah’s experiment with ranked choice voting early following state lawmakers’ near unanimous approval of the trial run in 2018.

“I do think the intentions were to help with voter confidence, help with the cost of elections and deal with plurality issues — all laudable goals,” Hall said during the floor debate over the bill. “But in the six years it’s been in place it doesn’t appear to be having these intended consequences broadly.”

Read more about why the Utah House voted to stop ranked choice voting.

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