The Capitol is pictured with downtown Salt Lake City behind it on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
A House bill that would restrict private employers’ diversity, equity and inclusion trainings failed in the Senate Business and Labor Committee on Friday, with Senators expressing concerns on tapping how Utah businesses operate.
HB111 , titled Employment Training Requirement Limitations, sponsored by Tooele Republican Tim Jimenez, aimed to forbid trainings and attestations professing certain beliefs as a condition of employment, advancement, promotion or demotion. Those include signing documents affirming beliefs around identity traits such as race, color, sex, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity and disabilities.
“Diversity, equity, inclusion is a beautiful idea,” Jimenez told the Senate committee on Friday. “The fact is when we’re looking (at) employment, we shouldn’t be narrowing our scope to just one or two groups, but we should be expanding our scope to everybody, to include everybody.”