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Don t miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook. 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 ....
Lawmakers who have worked year after year in the Vermont Legislature to craft budgets in the face of perennial revenue shortfalls have a new dilemma: what to do with a surplus of money that has to be spent this session in order to fight the many effects of the coronavirus pandemic? How to wisely spend a windfall and not go into the hole next year is the lens Lamoille County legislators are looking through, as some of them shared during a legislative question-and-answer virtual forum put on by the Lamoille Chamber of Commerce Monday morning. Lamoille County Sen. Rich Westman, R-Cambridge, sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which is normally tasked with taking testimony on the state budget. This year, he said, the Legislature is moving quickly on dispersing Vermontâs portion of the federal stimulus funds. That includes about $200 million to help Vermonters with rent and utility payments, Westman said. ....
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. ....