Arizona's constitution already bars government at every level from favoring or discriminating against people because of their race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. Proposition 142, on the Nov. 3 ballot, would add detailed rules on how that ban applies to schools, universities and public agencies.
Lawmakers referred the measure to voters. It started out as House Concurrent Resolution 2044, approved by the House on Feb. 23 and by the Senate on June 12, according to FOX 10's summary of the legislative record.
What a yes vote would do
The amendment would expand Article II, Section 36. It would apply to the state, counties, cities and towns, public universities, community colleges, school districts and other local governments, and the ban would cover programs tied to federal funding, too.
Under the measure, public bodies could not:
- Require students, job applicants, employees or contractors to back race-based preferences or diversity, equity and inclusion concepts as a condition of admission, hiring, promotion, graduation or a contract, or ask for statements on those ideas.
- Use tax money, tuition, grants or donations to pay for school and college offices or staff jobs that promote preferential treatment or try to shape the racial or gender makeup of students and faculty, or on training built around race, ethnicity, intersectionality, gender identity or sexual orientation.
- Discipline students or employees differently by race or ethnicity.
The text carves out classroom teaching, research, student clubs, short-term guest speakers, licensed health services and lessons on slavery, Indian removal, the Holocaust and Japanese American internment, AZ Luminaria reported. Tribal membership rules and sex-specific spaces are also exempt. Opponents point to a line letting the Legislature add other "related practices or concepts" to the compelled-endorsement ban later.
A no vote leaves Section 36 as written.
