Bill banning DEI in Arkansas local government sent to governor’s desk

Above: State Rep. Alyssa Brown speaks in favor of bill that would prohibit DEI in local government on April 14, 2025. (Ainsley Platt/Arkansas Advocate)

By Ainsley Platt, Arkansas Advocate

Legislation banning diversity, equity and inclusion policies and practices at the local level passed the Arkansas House of Representatives Monday, sending the bill to the governor’s desk.

Senate Bill 520 is one of several bills targeting culture war issues that have been taken up during the 2025 legislative session. The bill, if it becomes law, would prohibit DEI “offices, officers, policies, or practices in local government.”

Under the proposed law, local governments would be prohibited from implementing hiring and employment policies that take into account diversity, equity and inclusion, DEI offices, or programs, policies, practices or applicant statements that promote DEI.

Local officials or contractors would also be prohibited from compelling another official or contractor to “personally affirm, adopt, or adhere” to certain beliefs or ideals specified in the bill.

Private citizens would have a right to sue local governments if they do not cease violations of the prohibition within 30 days of being notified under the bill.

Senate Bill 520 is sponsored by Rep. Alyssa Brown, R-Heber Springs, in the House and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, in the Senate. Sullivan also sponsored Act 116 of 2025, which repealed state affirmative action programs and prohibited “discrimination or preferential treatment by state entities.”

Sullivan told the Senate last week that the state needed to align itself with the current presidential administration’s positions on DEI. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January that shut down DEI programs within the federal government, and the government has targeted federal grants for cancellation for not complying with the administration’s positions on DEI.

Rep. Jessie McGruder, D-Marion, criticized the bill on the House floor Monday, asking why SB 520 was targeting local governments when state GOP lawmakers placed so much emphasis on maintaining and returning “local control” to cities and counties.

“I’m trying to get an understanding of why we’re doing this, because we always say ‘local control,’” McGruder said. “So each city should be able to control what’s happening within their community. We don’t understand the differences in the dynamics that occur in each and every community.”

Brown appeared to take issue with McGruder’s comments when closing for her bill.

“We don’t get to gaslight members with this idea of local control that takes away what is deemed constitutional. We wouldn’t let a local government take away the Second Amendment rights of their citizens,” Brown said. “This bill is about making sure we’re consistent with what we’ve passed on a state level.”

Brown added that “discrimination is illegal under federal and state civil rights law, but this bill ensures that in the process of preventing discrimination. We do not allow our local government to discriminate in its policies.”

The Arkansas Advocate is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to tough, fair daily reporting and investigative journalism that holds public officials accountable and focuses on the relationship between the lives of Arkansans and public policy.