Overview
- The state House voted Wednesday to override Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes by a 71-47 margin, immediately enacting three bills and sending House Bill 171 to the Senate for final action.
- Senate Bill 153 now requires state and local agencies and employees to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and directs agencies that handle safety-net benefits to check applicants’ immigration status.
- Senate Bills 227 and 558 bar diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public K-12 schools and in public higher education and prevent campuses from investigating certain speech the bills classify as protected by the First Amendment.
- Republicans secured the overrides through limited debate and the absence of two Democrats who had attended earlier committee meetings, a tactic House Speaker Destin Hall defended as proper scheduling.
- The measures are likely to prompt legal challenges and administrative changes for schools, universities and local governments, and the action reflects shifting House dynamics after the GOP lost a full supermajority in 2024.