Coups and Constitutions
Last week, bill S.325 passed the House, amended with the repeals of Act 181 Tiers 2, 3, and Road Rule and including both Burtt amendments. This is a major victory for rural Vermonters! The Rep. Burtt amendments added “homesteading, small-scale agriculture and forestry, and supporting housing” to the definition of smart growth and exempted construction from Act 250 for accessory on-farm businesses featuring agricultural practices or products. See the amendments and results of roll call votes HERE (p.27). The latter amendment was the result of a coup over the majority party leadership that threw them into a frenzy for a couple days.
The bill then went back to the Senate to approve our changes, but unfortunately, they did not accept it as-is. Ugh. It will have to go through a “committee of conference” to resolve differences. Please continue to email your support for the S.325 version that passed the House to both the House Committee on Environment and Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy.
This week we tried to call up bill H.70 for discussion on the House floor. H.70 would count land in “Current Use” towards the Act 59 goals of conserving 30% of Vermont’s land by 2030 and 50% by 2050. This would have helped Vermonters all over the state. But the majority party was not even willing to call it up for debate after last week’s debacle. Most of the members who joined us to approve the Burtt amendments last week were reprimanded so badly by party leadership that they didn’t dare to vote with us again in support of rural Vermonters this week.
Rural Vermonters deserve a huge thank you for all the notes and emails flooding the inboxes of Legislators on these issues over the past two weeks. Priceless! We couldn’t have done it without you. We may have lost the vote this week, but we have gained heart and hope for the future.
There is a great article HERE that follows the money on how Act 181 and Act 59 came to be. Very interesting!
Wednesday, the House voted and passed the Constitutional Amendment Proposal 4 which would add Article 23 “Equality of rights” to the Vermont Constitution. You can read it HERE. I voted Yes to ensure that my constituents get to express their vote on this Constitutional Amendment on the general election ballot in November.
The purpose statement of this proposition says that this amendment reasserts the principles already reflected in the Vermont Constitution Ch. I, Art. 1, and Ch. I, Art. 7. This is causing critics of the proposal to wonder why this is even necessary. Some are concerned about the lack of definition and vagueness of some of the terms used leaving it open to misinterpretation or legal challenge. Also, while the proposal wording seems to focus on the present and future equality of treatment, some have expressed concern that this may defend laws that require making up for past deficiencies.
Proponents of the proposal are enthusiastic about the protections that codifying these rights in our Constitution will guarantee. Some have expressed concern that our federal government could erode our rights and protections and therefore desire to see our state enshrine them in our own constitution. Twenty eight other states have constitutional ERA or similar statements.
A constitutional amendment requires passage by both the House and Senate in two consecutive elected terms, then approval by voters. Two years ago, this Proposal 4 was amended by the Senate to add “religion” to the list of protected characteristics that shall not be denied equal treatment under the law, along with race, ethnicity, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or national origin. No further changes are allowed now.
There are always unintended consequences of any legislation. I wonder if the inclusion of religion in this list may end up requiring the state to include religious schools in the current education transformation and funding
I recommend you do your own research before voting on this proposition in November. To get you started I will offer you a website supporting Proposal 4 HERE, and an article opposing it HERE.
As for Education Reform, Taxes, and the Budget… nothing. These three things are intricately intertwined and thus complicate the passage of any one of them without the others resolved. The Governor is still saying that the current Ed bill versions being discussed by the House and Senate are not acceptable to him, but he’s hopeful they will come to consensus without having to stay late into the summer. Me too!
Stay in touch and stay engaged!
I remain honored to be your Representative,
Rob North
Addison, Ferrisburgh, New Haven, Panton, Vergennes, and Waltham
