SALT LAKE CITY — Debate came to a head Monday on a pair of measures put forward by Weber County lawmakers who lament what they view as overzealous efforts in the fight against racism and discrimination.

One, Senate Bill 283, authored by Sen. John Johnson, had called for the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion offices at Utah’s public universities. At a Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee hearing, lawmakers unanimously approved an amended version that instead calls for the matter to be studied by a summer interim committee.

The other proposal, House Bill 451, authored by Rep. Katy Hall, called for a prohibition on public sector employers asking questions of job applicants on race issues. It received a favorable 58-14 vote in the Utah House last Friday, but was rejected in a 4-1 vote by the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee and dies.

Both measures were the focus of a press conference Monday by reps from the Utah Black Roundtable, an advocacy group for the African American community, that called for no votes against the proposals. In a phone interview, Stanley Ellington, the Utah Black Roundtable chairperson, called the two measures “legislative malpractice.”

He noted the 2020 signing by then-Gov. Gary Herbert and other leaders of the Utah Compact on Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, a document that, broadly speaking, acknowledges the existence of racism and calls for efforts to combat it and bolster equal opportunity. S.B. 283 and H.B. 451, Ellington said, “are totally the opposite” of the compact.

Moreover, he lamented that “the people being affected” by the proposed legislation weren’t consulted ahead of time.

S.B. 283, as originally submitted by Johnson, a North Ogden Republican, called for the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion offices at Utah universities. Such offices, broadly, are geared to students of color and others who may feel marginalized and aim to give them support and make them feel welcome.

In calling for their elimination, though, Johnson said he’s heard from some who worry diversity, equity and inclusion offices “may prioritize promoting particular political or social ideologies over academic rigor and intellectual diversity.”

He reiterated that at Monday’s hearing, but took a step back, calling for a study into the question of diversity, equity and inclusion offices rather than their elimination. Weber State, Utah State and the University of Utah, among others, house offices focused on diversity, equity and inclusion issues.

“I understand that those are harsh words and I want to pull back the rhetoric and try to find solutions,” Johnson said. “What I’d like to do,” he went on, “is bring the parties together so we can have a robust discussion about goals and where we go forward.”

Still, he noted the cost of the programs, some $11.5 million a year, calling for a look into “the cost of them versus the benefits.”

Dave Woolstenhulme, commissioner of the Utah System of Higher Education, and Taylor Randall, president of the University of Utah, addressed the committee on S.B. 283.

Woolstenhulme stressed the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion offices but expressed openness into taking a closer look at them. “I like the fact that we are coming together to study it. It’s the Utah way. We want to be better than other states that have really divided this in a way that is really unhealthy,” he said.

During the separate hearing on H.B. 451, Hall, a South Ogden Republican, said she’s heard from constituents worried that candidates for jobs in the health care sector face questions on race issues.

“These so-called commitment statements are asking applicants to describe what they have done to commit to diversity, equity and inclusion in their lives and what they will continue to do with their work and in their lives,” she said. Some she heard from, she went on, “felt like they were having to stand up for some political/personal belief that they may or may not have had.”

Sen. Jen Plumb, a Salt Lake City Democrat who sits on the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee, noted the potential context for queries Hall described. People of color, she noted, face “unequal outcomes” in some health matters and such questions can serve to put such disparities in relief to workers and would-be workers in the health care sector.

Johnson, meantime, who also sits on the committee, applauded Hall’s legislative effort. “I know it takes some courage to go after this mode of thinking,” he said. He offered the only affirmative vote on her measure.

Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, also testified on H.B. 451 at Monday’s hearing, offering critical words. “This bill expressly attacks anti-racism and equity and inclusion,” she said.

Betty Sawyer, head of the NAACP’s Ogden Branch, said the sort of questions targeted by Hall aren’t meant as a “harassment tool.” Rather, they’re meant to “make sure we’re all moving in the same direction,” she said.

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