by Renee McGuinness, No on Proposal 4 PAC spokesperson
Proposal 4 so called “Equality of Rights” amendment is being sold as an equal rights amendment that is necessary to enshrine our equal rights into the Vermont Constitution. Instead, Proposal 4, if passed by the voters in November, would provide the legal framework to defend Vermont’s existing discriminatory laws and bureaucracy in state courts. Proposal 4 would also provide the legal framework to implement even more DEI discriminatory laws and bureaucracy, all at taxpayer expense.
The third sentence of the proposed amendment, “Nothing in this Article shall be interpreted or applied to prevent the adoption or implementation of measures intended to provide equality of treatment and opportunity for members of groups that have historically been subject to discrimination,” ensures that programs for state-sanctioned “historically marginalized groups” are maintained and expanded, in perpetuity. Our U.S. and Vermont constitutions are framed to protect access to opportunity, not provide it. And “equality of treatment” really means “equity,” which is the redistribution of individual assets to put everyone on “equal” financial footing. Testimony in favor of Proposal 4 from the Vermont Office of Racial Equity, the Human Rights Commission, and the Commission on Women proves this.
The cost of Vermont’s DEI programs
The costs for Vermont’s existing DEI bureaucracy and programs for 2027 alone, according to the Joint Fiscal Office FY 2027 Big Bill House Web Report and other sources, are as follows:
The Land Access and Opportunity Board (LOAB), (Act 182, 2022, Section 22, P. 35), was created “to recommend new opportunities and improve access to woodlands, farmland, and land and home ownership for Vermonters from historically marginalized or disadvantaged communities who continue to face barriers to land and home ownership.” Price tag: $1.68 million.
The Vermont Human Rights Commission’s mission is to, “promote full civil and human rights in Vermont.” The Commission advances its goal by investigating complaints, enforcing anti-discrimination laws, public education, advancing human rights public policies, and mediating disputes. Price tag: $1.53 million.
The Office of Racial Equity’s mission is: “The state of Vermont is dedicated to promoting equity and social justice. We aim to enhance inclusion and representation at all levels of government.” Price tag: $1,663,843.
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Action, Leadership Vermont (IDEAL Vermont) is, “a coalition of Vermont municipalities dedicated to advancing racial and other forms of equity across the state through shared learning and tangible action.” IDEAL Resources include an “Equity Toolkit” and “Joy & Self Care”. Price tag: $110,000 one-time appropriation.
The Vermont Truth and Reconciliation Commission, “is an exercise of uplifting and centering unheard truths, acknowledgement of harm to self and community and a pathway towards collective healing. Revealing the truth, both in historical context and the present, serves as a pathway to prevent future harm and seeks justice for those who have already suffered.”
Price tag: $900,000 one-time appropriation.
The Vermont Commission on Women’s mission is, “to advance rights and opportunities for cisgender and transgender women and girls and gender expansive people in Vermont.” Price tag: $540,228.
FY2027 budgets for the Health Equity Advisory Commission (HEAC) and the Vermont Office of Health Equity are not available in the Big Bill Webhouse Report. The expenses are included in the Vermont Department of Health’s budget and are not line items.
For some history, the HEAC requested $1.57 million for FY2025 in its 2024 Health Equity Advisory Commission report to continue the work of the HEAC along with initial start-up funds for the Office of Health Equity: $370,000 for the HEAC and $1.2 million for the Office of Health Equity. The Office of Health Equity received $500,000 for FY 2024 grants. The HEAC’s budget request was the same for FY2024, $1.57 million, in its February 2023 Annual Report. The HEAC requested $450,000 or more annually its January 2025 report. No request for funding was made in the HEAC’s January 2026 report.
The Health Equity Advisory Commission (HEAC), “helps make sure all Vermonters have a fair chance to be healthy—especially people who are Black, Indigenous, or other people of color; LGBTQ+ people; and people with disabilities—by amplifying the voices of impacted communities when the state makes decisions that affect their health and well-being.”
The Vermont legislature assigned HEAC the task of developing the Office of Health Equity under Act 33, 2021. Its website states, “Health Equity exists when all people have a fair and just opportunity to be healthy, especially those who have experienced socioeconomic disadvantage, historical injustice, and other avoidable systemic inequalities that are often associated with social categories of race, gender, ethnicity, social position, sexual orientation and disability.”
These discriminatory bureaucracies ask the legislature for more money for increased staffing, operations, and to fund grants and other programs for “historically marginalized groups” each year.
Proposal 4 violates equal protections under the law by providing taxpayer- funded resources only to groups the state determines to be “historically marginalized”. In essence, it is a reparations amendment: it is not justice and equal protection under the law.
If Proposal 4 were to be passed, we can expect that taxes would continue to increase yearly to fund discriminatory DEI bureaucracy and programs.