Mitigating Systemic Racism in State Government
The phrase “systemic racism” is used to talk about all of the policies and practices entrenched in established institutions that harm certain racial groups and help others. “Systemic” distinguishes between individual racism or overt discrimination and refers to the way racism operates in major parts of US society: the economy, criminal justice, housing, education, and more. There are a number of racial disparities in Vermont state systems that are troubling:

Vermont African American state employees have a voluntary separation rate that …

Every year during Town Meeting Day, Senator Doyle releases a poll to gain an understanding of where Vermonters stand on current issues in the news and at the State House. Below are the results for Wards 2 and 3 in Burlington.

The 2017 legislative session has, so far, been one of great uncertainty. We have new administrations in Montpelier and in Washington, DC, both of which have signaled significant priority shifts from their predecessors. We are proud to join with a tri-partisan group of elected officials to stand united against some of the most egregious proposals from Washington, pushing back against the President’s illegal and immoral immigration proposal.

While we monitor closely what potential budget cuts the federal government may pass down, we face serious budget challenges …

A state representative several years ago wrote up a really great explanation on how Vermont’s education taxes are calculated. I hope you find this helpful! (this is an example, it is not Waterbury’s actual budget)

Before the Brigham decision (1997), towns with big grand lists had an easy time raising money for their schools, while towns with a small grand lists had a hard time raising money for their schools. Education property taxes ranged from $.40 to $4.00. The Vermont Supreme Court held that …

This month, I voted in support of a package of legislation to protect victims of sexual assault. Despite significant progress in strengthening Vermont’s laws against sexual assault, too many victims of sexual violence are not ensured access to justice, health care, and social services.

The package of legislation reinforces the State’s sexual assault laws by setting forth procedures and notification requirements related to medical forensic examinations of sexual assault victims. Each year, Vermont’s certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners perform approximately 250 sexual assault forensic exams. The …