MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Republicans on Tuesday voted to approve an audit of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across state government.
It’s the latest in a series of moves by Republicans to target state-funded DEI initiatives. Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has made those initiatives a priority. An executive order he signed in 2019 required state agencies to put in place plans to promote equity and inclusion.
Last year, Republicans withheld pay raises for Universities of Wisconsin employees in order to force the school system to limit its DEI programs. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the state’s top Republican, signaled at the time his desire to review DEI programs more broadly. The audit approved Tuesday will do just that.
Republican Sen. Eric WImberger, who co-chairs the audit committee, called DEI programs “state-sponsored discrimination” at Tuesday’s hearing.
Democratic Sen. Tim Carpenter called the audit “nothing more than an attempt to drag up a boogeyman” ahead of an election.
State Auditor Joe Chrisman, who runs the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, told lawmakers he expects the audit will stretch into 2025.
Evers on Tuesday accused lawmakers of using the audit bureau for partisan aims.
"Do I think this is a bad idea? Absolutely. But you know, Legislative Audit Bureau should be nonpartisan. It should not be used as a weapon, and that's exactly what's happening here," the governor said.
A memo sent to the committee by LAB last month outlines potential areas for the audit to review, including the size and costs of DEI activities, the outcomes and effectiveness of DEI programs, and specific programs agencies have set up to comply with Evers’ executive order.
Democrats have raised concerns that the results of the audit may be used to justify cuts to DEI programs in the budget the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee authors next summer.
Wimberger said it’s too soon to tell what might happen. “Everything we find out in investigations are factored into budgeting, but there’s no way to predict what’s going to come out of this, so we’ll see,” he said in an interview.
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NBC26 reporter Andrew Amouzou in Green Bay contributed to this report.
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