Vermont’s Prop 4 represents a failed opportunity to truly move the needle in advancing justice and liberty for all.

by Kolby LaMarche

Vermont’s Proposition 4, an amendment to our state’s constitution, purports to ensure equal protection under the law, ostensibly championing justice and inclusivity. 

It seeks to expand anti-discrimination protections, ensuring that the government “shall not deny equal treatment and respect under the law on account of a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or national origin”

An earlier version of this amendment omitted religion, which was just recently added. Although its inclusion was protested by the ACLU. 

However, there exists another omission, one that is quite representative of our states’ persistent disregard for struggling Vermonters: economic status.

By doubling down on the exclusive trio of contemporary American identity politics—race, sex, and gender, Proposition 4 falls short of its promise to advance justice and liberty for all. 

Rather, this legislature has routinely sought to inhibit the liberty, particularly the economic liberty, of struggling Vermonters.   

From evicting, en masse, the homeless, burdening businesses with the failures and inefficiencies of our state bureaucracy, to driving up taxes on every Vermonter and raising DMV fees in the face of terrible roads, to raising the cost of heat and gas, unaffordable housing, childcare, and healthcare, our legislature has proven its damaging conduct behind a laughably feigned demeanor.  

This legislature has consistently perpetuated a narrative that prioritizes symbolic gestures over substantive change, and division over unity, neglecting the barriers faced by economically disadvantaged Vermont communities.

We have been hand-fed a narrative of scarcity. Where to bring about economic equality, we have only to tax the rich, and then shift that same money away from programs to eradicate economic insecurity and toward the legislature’s moral-preening projects.  

This failure to incorporate protections for economic status into Proposition 4 reflects a broader pattern in our politics wherein the voices and concerns of the poor and working class are systematically sidelined and totally excluded from the discourse.

When, for example, concerns regarding the impact of the Clean Heat Standard and its predictable impact on the working class were brought up by a member of the state’s own equity team, they were scolded by Rep. Larua Sibilia, a House Democrat. 

Furthermore, those who spoke or wrote against that legislation, pointing out the likely price increases, were labeled mouthpieces for Big Oil. 

It appears, In my view, increasingly evident that poor and working-class people require safeguarding not just from market discrimination, but also from the invasive control exerted by our welfare state under the guise of help.

Vermont’s Proposition 4 represents a failed opportunity to truly move the needle in advancing justice and liberty for all. Our state could lead the nation in recognizing that those in poverty and those in economic hardship should not face discrimination. Our state could recognize this great struggle so diversely felt by so many. 

This constitutional amendment must still eventually face the voters of Vermont. And when it does, come November, I beseech you to interrogate it critically and ask yourself if it is truly inclusionary. 

Burning Sky is dedicated to providing critique and commentary on the issues of the day from an unapologetic perspective, fueling change in the heart of Vermont. Authored by Kolby LaMarche every Saturday.