House Bill 1 (HB 1)

The “Budget” Bill

What’s Going on with State Funding?

Terms to Know

  • Appropriations are the funds allocated for all activities performed by the State of Texas. This includes funding for public colleges and universities. How appropriations are distributed are determined every two years when the Legislature convenes.

  • A “rider” is a section or clause added to the appropriations bill (H.B. 1). There are hundreds of riders on H.B. 1 outlining what state institutions can or cannot do.

Legislative Impact

In March 2023, the Texas Legislature began attacking the funding of universities’ and community colleges’ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and initiatives through Section 59 in H.B. 1, also known as Rider 183.

  • This primarily prohibits universities and colleges from expending state funds for “the design, implementation, or administration of diversity, equity, & inclusion practices or programs that do not comply” with the Texas Constitution.

  • These prohibitions are extended to the “hiring and supervision of employees, mandatory or recommended training, or programmed activities.”

The bill language specifically outlines prohibiting the use of state funds on DEI initiatives are not in compliance with Article 1, Sections 3 and 3a of the Texas Constitution.

  • Article 1, Sec. 3 states “All freemen, when they form a social compact, have equal rights and no man, or set of men, is entitled to exclusive separate public emoluments, or privileges, but in consideration of public services.”

  • Article 1, Sec. 3a states “Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged because of sex, race, color, creed, or national origin.”

Conservative legislators use this language as a means of arguing that DEI programs provide differential treatment to students on the basis of identity, and are thus exclusionary to non-marginalized students. The reality is that no DEI programs have been found by any court in Texas or throughout the United States to be unconstitutional. Despite this and the proven research that these programs support academic and professional success for all students, the Texas Legislature continues to push a false political narrative surrounding DEI offices and initiatives.

Despite the countless opposition from faculty, staff, students, and other higher education or policy experts, the House and Senate passed H.B. 1 on May 28, 2023. The funding prohibitions are effective beginning September 1, 2023.

Contradictions within H.B. 1

H.B. 1’s attack on DEI contradicts the Legislature’s clear support for programs and initiatives on higher education campuses that achieve the same goals and purposes that DEI offices do on all campuses. While the Texas Legislature forbids state funds being used for unconstitutional DEI activities, the Legislature also funds:

  • Over $71.5 million towards “at-risk students” across public universities

  • About $185 million for veterans through the Hazelwood Legacy Program, which covers tuition for veterans, their children and spouses, but does not include living expenses, books, or supplies

  • $38,318 to the Center for Mexican American Studies at UT-Arlington

  • $4 million to the UT Health Service Center at Houston for the research of providing integrated care to veterans with PTSD

  • Funds for an African American Museum Internship at UT-Dallas

  • $332,500 to Office of International Affairs at Prairie View A&M University

  • $1.25 million for Multicultural Success

  • About $16.4 million to the Center for Women’s Leadership in Business, Politics, and Public Policy at Texas Woman’s University

H.B. 1 also requires UT-Austin and Texas A&M to make good faith efforts to “improve the racial diversity of the university’s student body” and requires all higher education institutions to create a Mexican American Studies Program where there is “a substantial and growing” Mexican American population. However, these provisions would be nearly impossible to serve those demographics if colleges are not allowed to fund and maintain DEI offices.

These opposing provisions leave administration, faculty, staff, and students with confusing directives on what is and is not allowed on their campuses. Colleges and universities across Texas are already experiencing a chilling effect, where administrators and program directors are taking premature measures to restrict DEI in response to anti-DEI sentiments.

Much of this language was pulled from our H.B. 1 One-Pager, which can be accessed here. For citations, please refer to the one-pager’s footnotes.