The council was first created by Governor Perpich through executive order in 1985. Governor Arne Carlson passed a similar executive order in 1991, during the first year of his term in office. Subsequent governors, Governors Ventura, Pawlenty, and Dayton, extended the order passed by Governor Carlson in 1991. In 2015 Governor Dayton rescinded Executive Order 91-14 in his own executive order, thereby eliminating this council. In the same executive order, he created the Diversity and Inclusion Council.