Fort Worth ponders choice between DEI, $300M in federal funding

FORT WORTH, Texas - Seventy people signed up to speak at Tuesday night’s city council meeting. The overwhelming majority of people speaking want the city to continue DEI programs, even if it’ll cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Fort Worth residents fight for DEI

The city council has a decision to make. Essentially, either give up its DEI programs and keep roughly $300 million in federal funding, or maintain DEI programs and lose that $300 million.

It’s about $40 million of annual funding, and more than $270 million dollars in ongoing grant money.

The looming decision is a result of President Donald Trump’s policy and a Supreme Court ruling. So, this is not exclusive to Fort Worth. We are seeing decisions across the country.

What they're saying:

Dozens of speakers do not care about the money as much as they want to push back against the president’s policy and maintain DEI.

"I’m imploring you, show us the backbone that I know that you’re capable of. Mark the line in the sand and say this is non-negotiable," said one resident.

"We need this. This opens up the door for conversations. Are we not worth it?," said another.

The other side:

FOX 4 spoke with Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker before Tuesday night’s meeting. She says she wants to abolish DEI in an effort to maintain federal funding, saying the city has "no choice."

"It is a real impact to the citizens of Fort Worth if we don’t do the right thing tonight," said Parker. 

"And we represent more than 1 million people. We’re one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. To be on track, to be where we need to need to be, to be a safe city, a city that’s well run, prepared for growth, this vote is imperative," Parker went on.

Dig deeper:

That $277 million in grant money would go towards neighborhood services, transportation and public works, aviation, parks and recreation, and more. 

The City of Fort Worth’s website says, the DEI department works to "eliminate racial, ethnic and gender disparities in criminal justice, economic development, education, governance, health, housing and transportation." 

What's next:

The city’s annual budget says the DEI office employs 16 people, is allotted about $3 million annually, and there are several city-council-appointed committees related to DEI. The city says five of those 16 jobs would be affected.

A vote has yet to come, but we will keep you posted.