Idaho senators gave their approval to a bill that bars the state from using affirmative action in its hiring decisions.
The proposal would prohibit state workers and those they contract with from hiring someone based on their sex or race.
Sen. Cherie Buckner-Webb (D-Boise), Idaho’s only black lawmaker, said the bill would revert the state back to the Jim Crow era.
“It makes me feel like we are stepping back in those separate but equal days and … I think it’s the backlash to seeing three or four people of color, underserved populations, where you never saw them before,” Buckner-Webb said.
Democrats say the proposal will result in fewer minority candidates being hired because of unconscious biases.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Winder (R-Boise) acknowledged that the goal of the bill might be aspirational.
“I think that it’s trying to establish a standard that we wish we really had. The reality of it is this is probably a goal that may be unattainable in my lifetime or maybe yours, but I think we have to try,” Winder said.
House lawmakers need to sign off on the proposal once more before it goes to the governor’s desk.
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