In an unexpected move, a special legislative committee formed to examine Wisconsin’s affirmative-action policies voted against drafting a constitutional amendment that would have banned racial and ethnic preferences in college admissions, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported today.

The panel had been expected to pass a proposal to change the state’s Constitution to prohibit public universities and other state agencies from granting preferential treatment to any individual or group based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. But after an emotional debate, the commission voted down the proposal, along with a second measure that would have required minority applicants to the University of Wisconsin system and minority bidders on state contracts to prove their heritage is at least 25 percent of the given racial or ethnic minority in order to receive preferential treatment.

The committee did approve two proposals: one, to prohibit minority businesses with net worths of $1-million or more from receiving preferential treatment, and the other, to require minority residents to be American citizens in order to benefit from the state’s affirmative-action policies.

The university system has been under fire from Republican lawmakers and conservative activists over its affirmative-action policies, most recently its decision in February to adopt a freshman-admissions policy directing each of its campuses to consider the race and ethnicity of applicants. —Karin Fischer