INDIANAPOLIS — New Indiana Gov. Mike Braun on Wednesday ordered the elimination of all DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives in state government as part of 19 executive orders.
Braun, who was sworn in as the Hoosier State’s 52nd governor on Monday, Jan. 13, said in the order that all executive branch state agencies should not use state funds, property or resources to “support diversity, equity of inclusion positions, departments, activities, procedures or programs if they grant preferential treatment based upon one person’s particular race, color, ethnicity, or national origin, over that of another person.”
The agencies all also barred from using state resources to:
The order also closes the Chief Equity, Inclusion, and Opportunity Office within the governor’s office.
Braun signed a total of nine executive orders pertaining to state government operations.
According to a news release, these executive orders deliver on Braun’s promise to “make state government leaner and more efficient by streamlining state operations, boosting transparency, and promoting fiscal discipline while cutting red tape.”
The nine executive orders include:
Political experts 13News spoke with said it’s not unusual for a governor to hit the ground running with executive orders.
They said this is also a way for the governor to do what he wants to do right out of the gate on issues that don’t need approval from lawmakers.
“This makes more sense as a way for him to exercise his executive authority without having to involve the legislation being able, of course to do it fairly immediately having just taken office and sworn the oath two days ago,” University of Indianapolis political science professor Laura Merrifield Wilson said.
A full list of the executive orders signed by Braun can be found online here.
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