Wisconsin Republicans banned race-based hiring in local government. It's already been illegal for over 50 years.
MADISON — City and county officials in over a dozen communities across Wisconsin say a new law banning local governments from using race-based preferences in hiring and contracting will likely have no impact because the practice has already been barred by state and federal law for decades.
The provision in a new law aimed at boosting funding for local governments bars officials from “discriminating against or providing a preference in hiring or contracting based on race, color, ancestry, national origin or sexual orientation” in hiring. It's part of a larger package of provisions Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, hailed as a ban on “woke diversity and equity initiatives" when it was introduced in a bipartisan shared revenue deal signed into law last month.
But federal law already bans nearly all American employers — including state and local governments — from practicing race-based hiring and has done so for more than 50 years. Federal equal opportunity employment rules reach beyond the measure Republicans passed last month to ban discrimination based on sex, religion, gender identity, disability and age.
Wisconsin has its own fair employment law that for at least 50 years has prevented employers, employment agencies, labor unions and licensing agencies from discriminating against employees and job applicants based on similar criteria.
City officials from Appleton, Baraboo, Eau Claire, Chilton, Oconomowoc, Oshkosh and Waukesha as well as officials from Barron, Manitowoc, Walworth, Washington and Winnebago counties told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel they don't expect the new law to change their hiring or contracting processes, with most citing preexisting nondiscrimination law. The League of Wisconsin Municipalities, which represents the interests of local governments in Wisconsin, had a similar understanding, executive director Jerry Deschane said in an email.
“We firmly prohibit any form of discrimination in our hiring practices,” said Andy Anaam, communications and public engagement manager for the City of Appleton. “Our primary focus is to attract and select the most exceptional talent for each position, based solely on their qualifications.”
Barron County Administrator Jeff French said in an email he didn't believe the new provision would "materially impact" county operations.
In Chilton, City Administrator David DeTroye said the city "only hires the best candidate to fill open positions, regardless of race, color, ancestry, origin, or sexual orientation."
John Fitzpatrick, Oshkosh assistant city manager, said the city awards contracting bids to the "lowest responsible bidder" as required by state law based primarily on financial criteria and prior work quality.
Fitzpatrick said he did not believe Oshkosh's public works project bidding would be affected by the new provision but said the city is reviewing its bidding processes regardless.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway also said city officials are reviewing the provision to see if it affects any city policies or programs, though a legal official for the city said he did not expect changes to city hiring or contracting practices.
Madison is already barred from discriminating against or providing preferential treatment to contractors based on personal characteristics and awards contracts to the lowest prequalified, responsible and responsive bidder — the same method Oshkosh uses.
Madison only uses race-based criteria when required for federal grants and minority business enterprise programs, which is allowed under the measure passed last month due to an exception that allows race-based hiring when "required to secure federal aid." The city also gives preference points to veterans in its hiring process to comply with state law.
Rhodes-Conway added it was “unfortunate that the state legislature continues to adopt policies that undermine (DEI) efforts and attack local control.”
Kelly Wright, a spokeswoman for Vos, did not return an email request for examples of cities using race-based hiring or contracting and an explanation of how the provision in the new law differs from existing law.
DEI a target in recent state budget debates
The language in the local government funding bill comes amid larger efforts from conservatives to bar diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in Wisconsin and across the nation.
Republicans argue DEI initiatives create unfair hiring situations and waste public taxpayer dollars on programs that push racially divisive views.
"That's not what taxpayer dollars should be for," Vos told reporters last month. "If you want to raise money in the private sector, if you want to have a bake sale or put money into your own ideology, you have every right to do that because we live in America. But it's not the right to use taxpayer dollars to try to push one ideology over another."
Republican lawmakers put forth multiple proposals to defund or ban diversity programs at the state and local level while drafting the state’s next two-year budget plan, which became law last week after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers issued over four dozen partial vetoes before approving the spending plan.
One of the measures put forth by Republicans sliced $32 million from the University of Wisconsin System budget in an attempt to eliminate nearly 200 DEI jobs on UW campuses.
Vos relabeled the DEI acronym "division, exclusion and indoctrination" and called diversity programming at Wisconsin’s public universities the “single most important issue” facing humanity last month at a Republican state party convention in La Crosse.
"DEI is the new religion to the left," he said. "They don't go to church on Sunday, but they have no problem using taxpayer dollars to evangelize on every college campus across the state. We have to stop, put our foot down and not allow it to continue.”
Evers at one point threatened to veto the entire budget if Republicans kept the $32 million cut but relented after Republicans opened the door for UW to recoup the money if it is used for workforce development programs. The governor instead used a partial veto to keep the DEI positions and let UW decide how it absorbs the funding cut.
“Vetoing this entire budget would be abandoning priorities and ideas that I've spent four years advocating for,” Evers said last week before signing the state budget.
UW System spokesman Mark Pitsch refused to say whether UW would still cut funding from diversity programs when asked but said the university will "continue to work through (its) options in the weeks and months ahead."
"Shrinking budgets will have consequences," Pitsch said.
More: Republicans have a lot to say about UW diversity programs. So do students.
Milwaukee diversity programs face further restrictions
Another measure in new law barred Milwaukee — the state’s largest and most diverse city — from funding positions whose primary job it is to promote individuals “on the basis of their race, color, ancestry, national origin or sexual orientation.”
The restriction is one of many imposed on the city as part of the shared revenue deal in exchange for giving Milwaukee leaders authority to impose a 2% local sales tax for additional revenue to avoid impending financial disaster.
Seven members of the Milwaukee Common Council slammed the policy changes aimed at the city as "overreaching, micromanaging, and frankly racist” in a letter last month.
City council members have since put forward legislation seeking to explore potential litigation, direct federal pandemic aid to city diversity offices and instruct the city's lobbyists to work at the Capitol to remove the provisions.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson told the Journal Sentinel last month he opposed the ban but saw a path forward to fund the city’s diversity offices without using tax levy funds. Johnson declined to detail specific funding sources but suggested fundraising and support from non-governmental organizations as potential avenues.
More: Milwaukee mayor, council pursue different approaches in response to new state restrictions
Bernadette Karanja, chief equity officer for Milwaukee's Office of Equity and Inclusion, told a city committee last month her office would work to identify potential avenues for private donations so the office would continue to exist despite the new restriction.
Karanja has not responded to a request for comment on how the new law will affect her office.
Alison Dirr and Yash Roy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
Tyler Katzenberger can be reached at tkatzenberger@gannett.com.
THANK YOU: Subscribers' support makes this work possible. Help us share the knowledge by buying a gift subscription.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: GOP race-based hiring ban has no effect, municipal officials say
