Vermont will vote on equal protection amendment

Vermont voters will have the opportunity to vote on another amendment to the state constitution this fall.

The proposal, which received final approval from the House of Representatives on Wednesday, aims to ensure that all people are treated equally under the law regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or nationality.

A At the state level The vote is the final step in the years-long process that PR.4, or any other proposed change to Vermont’s founding document, must follow. The Senate, where the measure was first proposed nearly a decade ago, gave final approval to the amendment in March.

Supporters say the proposal builds on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in part by identifying groups of people who have historically faced discrimination in Vermont and across the country.

If approved, the measure, a similar version of which exists in most other state constitutions, could form the basis for future Vermont Supreme Court decisions, proponents said. It would become Article Twenty-Three of Vermont’s founding document.

“The federal Constitution is a floor, not a ceiling, of rights. It shows us the minimum we can do, not the maximum,” said Rep. Barbara Rachelson, D-Burlington, who introduced PR.4 on the House floor Wednesday. “Therefore, it is important that Vermont develop its own jurisprudence regarding equal protection, and not simply rely on what is in our federal Constitution.”

The proposal received near-unanimous support in the House and Senate, though it faced more opposition this year than when it received initial approval from both chambers in 2024. In Vermont, proposed constitutional amendments need to win support from successive legislatures before going to voters.

In the House of Representatives this week, the proposal was approved by a vote of 128 to 14. Two years ago, it passed the House by just four votes. All but one of the House members who voted against PR.4 this year are Republicans. There are more GOP members in the House today than there were two years ago.

The “no” votes on Wednesday included House Judiciary Committee Vice Chairman Rep. Tom Burdette, R-West Rutland, whose committee reviewed the proposal before it came to the floor. Rep. Mark Higley, R-Lowell, assistant House Minority Leader, and Rep. Zach Harvey, R-Castleton, vice chairman of the state Republican Party, also voted against the resolution.

Only one GOP member offered an explanation during the no vote: Val Taylor of Mendon, who framed her opposition to the proposal in religious terms.

“I believe in my heart — and I’m sorry — the only words that are going to change Vermont and change this world, I believe they come from the Bible, and I believe that’s what the world is missing,” said Taylor, the top Republican on the House Health Care Committee. “True Love and Peace – How I Raise My Daughters – Comes from the Bible.”

No senators voted against PR.4 in March, and no one will vote against it in 2024.

But one senator was not in the room to vote this year. That was Sen. Steve Heffernan, R-Addison, who rose from his seat right before the roll call vote was taken.

Heffernan told VTDigger at the time that he left because his stomach was feeling “upset” and he needed to use the bathroom. He said he had not decided how to vote on the amendment, largely because he heard from voters urging him to vote for or against it.

“I think the pizza I ate arrived at the right time,” he said, describing the timing as “appropriate.” Voters will be able to have their say on PR.4 during the general election scheduled for this fall, which will be held on November 3. The proposal requires a majority vote to pass.

If approved, it would be the third change to the state constitution in the past four years. In 2022, voters passed amendments that explicitly prohibit slavery and servitude under the state constitution, and broadly prohibit the state from interfering in reproductive health care decisions.

This story was originally published by VTDigger and distributed through a partnership with the Associated Press.