HB4 prohibits public universities from using race, color, sex, religion, or national origin in admissions, scholarships, and hiring.
Proponents of the bill cited the 2023 Supreme Court case, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College as a legal precedent. The court ruled six to three that race-based affirmative action and admissions violated the Constitution.
But Senator Reggie Thomas of Lexington says HB 4 goes further than that.
"House Bill 4 says that race can't even be considered with regard to scholarships nor financial aid. The Harvard Institute says nothing about financing students. But today we go further and say, no, you can't give them scholarships. No, you can't give them financial aid based upon race."
Senator Stephen West says, though the bill does prohibit universities from offering identity-based scholarships, it doesn't eliminate the possibility of private scholarships which take a student's background into consideration.
"As an example, if an entity, a person, an organization wanted to provide one of these scholarships, they could. They would just have to administer that scholarship themselves and convey the funds to that student."
HB4 passed 32 to 6 and now moves back to the house for a vote on an amendment.