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MONTPELIER â The House of Representatives gave final passage Wednesday to a resolution declaring racism a public health emergency, but not without some fireworks.
The resolution, JRH 6, passed 135-8 on a roll call vote, following impassioned statements in favor of passage.
JRH 6, sponsored by Rep. Brian Cina, P-Chittenden 6-4, cites racial discrepancies in health outcomes among BIPOC Vermonters including a much higher rate of COVID-19 cases, higher rates of mental health issues, lower incomes and higher poverty rates, as reasons the Legislature should treat racism as a health emergency.
It declares âthat racism constitutes a public health emergency in Vermontâ and commits the Legislature to âthe sustained and deep work of eradicating systemic racism throughout the State, actively fighting racist practices, and participating in the creation of more just and equitable systems.â
AP
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MONTPELIER, Vt. The Vermont House of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday declaring that racism is a public health emergency.
The House voted 135-8 in favor of the non-binding resolution, which still must be passed by the Senate to be adopted.
The resolution says that systemic racism affecting public health impacts economic, employment, education, housing and health opportunities and outcomes of minority populations, even in Vermont.
It also says the covid-19 pandemic has worsened those inequities, and Black and Latino people are three times as likely as white people to die of the disease.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) The Vermont House of Representatives passed a resolution Wednesday declaring that racism is a public health emergency. The House voted 135-8 in favor of the non-binding resolution, which still must be passed by the Senate to be adopted.
MONTPELIER The first day of testimony on a bill reimagining early child care in Vermont as a publicly subsidized system lowering family costs to no more than 10 percent
Rep. Jill Krowinski The day after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election, outraged Vermont lawmakers weighed in on the historic moment. Rep. Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington), the new speaker of the House of Representatives, stood at the rostrum in the nearly empty chamber, a portrait of George Washington towering over her, and asked the clerk to read the hastily drafted declaration. It condemned the violence as a direct attack upon our democracy that was instigated by President Donald Trump to overturn the results of a fair and free election that he lost in order to keep himself in power. As Gov. Phil Scott had done the previous day, it called on Trump to resign or be removed from office.