# Executive Order 91-14 *Executive order of Governor Arne Carlson, issued May 3, 1991, establishing the State Affirmative Action Council.* **Executive Order 91-14** is an order of [[Minnesota]] [[governor]] [[Arne Carlson]], dated May 3, 1991. It created a body named the State Affirmative Action Council.[^1] The archived copy of the order held by the Minnesota Legislature is the only source for it in this record. That record does not establish the order's operative text, any later amendment or rescission, or what the Council did.[^1] On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's "Affirmative Action" Regime*. The release states that Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^2] The complaint in *[[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]]*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn.), was filed the same day under [[Title VII]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. It cites [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]] eight times. Among those citations is subdivision 3(c), which requires an agency to explain why it hired a non-affirmative candidate.[^3] The record cited here shows the filing date and no later docket activity. It does not establish whether the complaint refers to Executive Order 91-14.[^3] The release's title supplies the United States' own term for the State's apparatus.[^2] Federal law has used the same word for a foreign government the United States opposed. In 1998 the Iraq Liberation Act (Pub. L. 105-338) made it policy to support efforts to remove "the regime headed by Saddam Hussein."[^4] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds Minnesota the only U.S. state so described. That catalogue is note 40 of *[[How Minnesota Got Here]]*.[^4] The federal suit came the year after *[[Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services]]*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025). In *Ames* the Supreme Court held that Title VII's disparate-treatment provision "draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs." It also rejected the Sixth Circuit's heightened "background circumstances" rule for majority-group plaintiffs.[^5] ## Who Governor Arne Carlson issued the order.[^1] The record does not give his party affiliation. It also does not show which later governors maintained, amended or rescinded the order.[^1] ## What The order established the State Affirmative Action Council.[^1] The record does not carry the order's text, so it does not establish the Council's membership, mandate or duration. The archived title is the only description of the order's purpose in this record.[^1] ## When The order is dated May 3, 1991.[^1] The federal complaint naming [[Affirmative action]] provisions of Minnesota law was filed nearly 35 years later, on January 14, 2026.[^3] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Issued by Governor Arne Carlson.[^1] ### What - Established the State Affirmative Action Council.[^1] ### When - Dated May 3, 1991.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Office of the Governor of Minnesota, *Executive Order 91-14* (May 3, 1991), Minnesota Legislative Reference Library archive copy. Establishes the order's date and issuing governor, and that it created the State Affirmative Action Council. https://www.leg.mn.gov/archive/execorders/91-14.pdf [^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's "Affirmative Action" Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026). Establishes the release's title and Attorney General Bondi's certification of the case as a matter of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Complaint, United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn. filed Jan. 14, 2026). Establishes the docket number, the filing date, the Title VII basis, and the complaint's eight citations of Minn. Stat. § 43A.191, including subd. 3(c). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^4]: U.S. Congress, *Iraq Liberation Act of 1998*, Pub. L. 105-338 (1998). Establishes the statutory policy of supporting efforts to remove "the regime headed by Saddam Hussein." The finding that Minnesota is the only U.S. state so described is the project's catalogue finding (*How Minnesota Got Here*, note 40). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-105publ338/pdf/PLAW-105publ338.pdf [^5]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025). Establishes the holding on Title VII's disparate-treatment provision and the rejection of the "background circumstances" rule. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf