Comptroller Don Huffines has issued an executive order prohibiting taxpayer funds administered through his agency from supporting discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
The order requires contractors and grant recipients working with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts to certify that their state-funded activities do not involve discriminatory DEI practices. Agreements will also include provisions allowing the agency to terminate contracts immediately for violations.
Under the order, discriminatory DEI practices include preferential or unequal treatment based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, age, sex, or national origin in recruitment, hiring, contracting, program participation, or the use of state resources.
“The radical left turned diversity, equity, and inclusion into a racket, and taxpayers got stuck with the bill,” Huffines said. “Woke DEI is discrimination, plain and simple. It sorts Texans by skin color and sex, punishes merit, and funnels money to consultants who produce nothing.”
Huffines said the comptroller’s office handles thousands of contracts and grants involving hundreds of state agencies and thousands of local governments, making the new requirements applicable to a broad range of state-funded agreements.
“Every contractor and every grantee is on notice. Hire the best, promote the best, and serve every Texan the same, and you will do just fine,” Huffines said. “Push woke DEI with taxpayer money, and we will terminate your agreement on the spot.”
The order follows previous efforts by Texas lawmakers to restrict DEI initiatives involving public funds.
In 2023, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 17, which prohibited DEI offices, certain hiring preferences, and mandatory DEI training at public universities. The law took effect in January 2024.
Huffines’ latest action also comes two days after his October 13 executive order prohibiting comptroller-administered grant money from being used to purchase or contract for Flock cameras, automated license plate readers, and similar vehicle-identification systems.
According to the comptroller’s office, the DEI restrictions are part of a series of new standard terms being added to agency contracts and grants, with additional measures expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
