Michigan Civil Rights Initiative

The Chamber has decided not to take a position on Proposal 2, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. We are providing our members with information on the issue.

Analysis

The Chamber conducted a full analysis of Proposal 2 and met with stakeholders on both sides. Below you will find our full analysis:

Reasons to Oppose MCRI

Affirmative action programs have had a positive impact on our society and these programs are still needed.

Diversity in the educational setting leads to a diverse, educated workforce. This is a critical factor to the success of the overall business community.

Having a Michigan workforce that reflects the very real diversity of our society will promote competitiveness both domestically and abroad.

Passage of Proposal 2 would negatively impact some of our members, particularly the University of Michigan.

This issue has been considered and decided by the U.S. Supreme Court

There is a provision in the Michigan Constitution that protects equality

Reasons to Support MCRI

Preferential treatment of any kind should not exist in our society. It is impossible to give preference to someone without discriminating against someone else.

Affirmative action programs do more harm than good. They foster ill will between people that are treated differently by affirmative action policies.

Affirmative action programs should be based on broad factors, such as socioeconomic status, that cut across race, gender, color, ethnicity and national origin

Affirmative action programs do not address the problem early enough. Real progress could be made by focusing efforts in preschool and early stage education.

Background

The Michigan Civil Rights Initiative follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the University of Michigan’s law and undergraduate school admission policies (Grutter v Bollinger, 123 S Ct 2325, 2003; Gratz v Bollinger, 123 S Ct 2411,2003). This effort seeks to amend Michigan’s Constitution and prohibit affirmative action programs in hiring, public college and university admissions, and public contracting.

Currently, there is no provision in the Michigan Constitution that specifically regulates these activities. There is, however, Section (2), Article I of the Michigan Constitution that provides:

“No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of his civil or political rights or be discriminated against in the exercise thereof because of religion, race, color or national origin. The legislature shall implement this section by appropriate legislation.”

BALLOT LANGUAGE

A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO BAN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAMS THAT GIVE PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT TO GROUPS OR INDIVIDUALS BASED ON THEIR RACE, GENDER, COLOR, ETHNICITY OR NATIONAL ORIGIN FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION OR CONTRACTING PURPOSES

The proposed constitutional amendment would:

Ban public institutions from using affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes.  Public institutions affected by the proposal include state government, local governments, public colleges and universities, community colleges and school districts.

Prohibit public institutions from discriminating against groups or individuals due to their gender, ethnicity, race, color or national origin (A separate provision of the state constitution already prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin).

Proposed Constitutional Amendment

If Proposal 2 is adopted, Article I, Section 26 would be inserted into the Michigan Constitution:

The University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, and any other public college or university, community college, or school district shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.

The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.

For the purposes of this section “state” includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the state itself, any city, county, any public college, university, or community college, school district, or other political subdivision or governmental instrumentality of or within the State of Michigan not included in sub-section 1.

This section does not prohibit action that must be taken to establish or maintain eligibility for any federal program, if ineligibility would result in a loss of federal funds to the state.

Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prohibiting bona fide qualifications based on sex that are reasonably necessary to the normal operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.

The remedies available for violations of this section shall be the same, regardless of the injured party’s race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin, as are otherwise available for violations of Michigan anti-discrimination law.

This section shall be self-executing. If any part or parts of this section are found to be in conflict with the United States Constitution or federal law, the section shall be implemented to the maximum extent that the United States Constitution and federal law permit. Any provision held invalid shall be severable from the remaining portions of this section.

This section applies only to action taken after the effective date of this section.

This section does not invalidate any court order or consent decree that is in force as of the effective date of this section.