By Guy Page
Bills on slavery reparations and Abenaki land rights will be discussed today and tomorrow by the House General, Housing & Military Affairs Committee.
Scheduled for 9:30 AM Thursday, H387 would establish the Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for the Institution of Chattel Slavery. Rev. Mark Hughes, Executive Director of the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance, is scheduled to testify.
Friday, the committee will review the following bills:
- H520 – creating the Office of Native American Affairs, sponsored by Rep. James Masland D-Thetford).
- H618 – providing the Abenaki with access to State land, sponsored by Rep. John O’Brien (D-Tunbridge).
- H620 – Abenaki land ownership and land repatriation, sponsored by Committee Chair Tom Stevens (D-Waterbury).
- H668 – protection of Abenaki sacred sites, sponsored by Stevens.
All of these bills may be read at the Vermont Legislature website.