No Preference Bill Presented

State lawmakers are introducing a bill that would prohibit the state, including the university system from using quotas, goals or guidelines for hiring, promotion or admission based on race, sex, national origin, religion, or sexual orientation. NHPR?s Dan Gorenstein reports critics of the proposal say this bill isn?t necessary, and could be harmful.

:09 this legislation is a classic case of a cure looking for a disease, it is not needed.

Judy Reardon is a spokesperson for Governor Jeanne Shaheen.

:47 NH has a comprehensive law on the books prohibiting discrimination, the state adheres to that policy, it does not discriminate, it makes its decisions based on competency and merit.

But for Republican Representative Michael Harrington from Barrington, if the state has any diversity guidelines or goals, known in shorthand as Affirmative Action, then ultimately the state will be discriminating against someone.

24:20 what my intent here is to say discrimination is wrong. Regardless of who is doing it. We should not have state funded job, state funded university making decisions we are going to give special treatment to this group.

And Harrington says there is even a constitutional basis for the law.

:24 bill of rights, section 1, article 2, the last sentence reads equality of rights shall not be denied or abridged by this state on account of race, creed, sex, national origin, my bill simply codifies that provision and allows that to be enforced.

While Harrington sees his bill as an addition to the state bill of rights, that?s not what attorney Lucy Hodder sees. Hodder, who is familiar with civil rights law, says if this bill goes through, it could actually limit the state?s ability to combat discrimination.

4:23 legal community asks what evidence of discrimination exists and is there something that should be done about it, to eliminate that. B/c the evidence of the diversity could indicate there is intentional discrimination. Often times, employers have been encouraged to set goals to ensure against discrimination against groups.

If, for example, the state finds that the diversity of its staff is out of whack with the overall population, there are measures available to rectify the situation. Like casting a wider net when posting open positions. But Hodder says that leads to another problem with the legislation.

3:28 the language is very broad and could be subject to interpretation that might hurt ability to achieve diverse community.

For example, Representative Harrington supports the state putting advertisements in Spanish speaking newspapers or taking other steps to ensure all kinds of people are aware of job openings. But given the language of the bill, Hodder argues one could easily interpret the placement of that add as a violation of the ?no guidelines for hiring based on race or national origin? section of the bill.

The policy of increasing diversity at the University of New Hampshire recently grabbed headlines. UNH President Joanne Leitzel reportedly claimed credit for creating a more diverse student body and staff, and noted that institutional racism remains a problem in higher education. Such comments drew the ire of Representative Harrington.

7:44 based on the statements they have made, I would have to say I know of no specific cases, if they have goals and guidelines, and have a desire to become a more diverse campus if the president of the university is saying race matters, than I would say their present programs are not in compliance with my proposed bills.

A House committee is scheduled to hold a hearing next Tuesday on the bill. For NHPR News, I?m DG.