Vermont H 451: An act relating to expanding the scope of the beverage container redemption system

Bill Text

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VT LEG #380683 v.1
H.451 1
Introduced by Representative Burrows of West Windsor 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Commerce and trade; economic development 5
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to promote racial 6
and economic justice. 7
An act relating to promoting racial and economic justice 8
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 9
Sec. 1. LEGISLATIVE INTENT 10
(a) Equal opportunity is a fundamental principle of American democracy. 11
(b) Equal access to economic opportunity and to cultural empowerment are 12
priorities of the State of Vermont. 13
(c)(1) Structural racism, defined as the laws, policies, institutional 14
practices, cultural representations, and other societal norms that often work 15
together to deny equal opportunity, has resulted in wealth disparities and 16
cultural disempowerment among Vermonters. 17
(2) Great social costs arise from these inequities, including threats to 18
economic development, democracy, and the social health and wellness of the 19
State of Vermont. 20

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(d)(1) Wealth disparities are a function of not only access to income, but 1
also the ability to have access to the land, to property ownership, and to 2
cultural preservation and empowerment, which has been impacted by race, 3
ethnicity, sex, geography, language preference, immigrant or citizen status, 4
sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and disability status. 5
(2) Wealth disparities and cultural disempowerment directly and 6
indirectly affect the health and wellness of individuals and communities. 7
(e)(1) The foundation of our current economic system was built on land 8
that was taken from Abenaki and other Indigenous persons, and the structures 9
of our economic system were constructed with the labor of enslaved persons. 10
(2) The legacy of settler colonialism and chattel slavery has been 11
systemic racism and discrimination embedded into many aspects of our 12
modern way of life on this land. 13
(3) The relationship between all persons and the land has been used to 14
oppress persons over the past several centuries. 15
(4) The laws and policies of our State and nation severed Indigenous 16
persons from their land while denying them, Black persons, and other persons 17
of color from having the opportunity to access and own land. 18
(5) These actions of the State led to systemic racism that has impacted 19
all Vermonters who have historically suffered from discrimination and who 20
have not had equal access to public or private economic benefits due to race, 21

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VT LEG #380683 v.1
ethnicity, sex, geography, language preference, immigrant or citizen status, 1
sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or disability status. 2
(6) The actions of the State have led to the erasure or appropriation of 3
culture for the descendants of slaves and Indigenous persons. 4
(f)(1) In order to offer repair for the systemic discrimination faced by many 5
persons throughout the State over the past four centuries, the State of Vermont 6
must engage in a just transition to an economic system that systemically 7
undoes racism instead of reinforcing it. 8
(2) Efforts to remedy wealth disparity in the United States have 9
traditionally looked to the free market, extractive economy for solutions to the 10
very problem that it has created. 11
(3) However, there has been increased recognition that improving access 12
to economic opportunity and cultural empowerment will require broader 13
approaches. 14
(4) In order to rectify this history of inequity, we must create economic 15
opportunity and cultural empowerment, using new systems that empower and 16
center Vermonters who have historically suffered from discrimination and who 17
have not had equal access to public or private economic benefits due to race, 18
ethnicity, sex, geography, language preference, immigrant or citizen status, 19
sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, or disability status. 20

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VT LEG #380683 v.1
(g) It is therefore the intent of the General Assembly to acknowledge and 1
address wealth disparity and cultural disempowerment by creating economic 2
opportunity and cultural empowerment for Vermonters who have historically 3
suffered from discrimination and who have not had equal access to public or 4
private economic benefits due to race, ethnicity, sex, geography, language 5
preference, immigrant or citizen status, sexual orientation, gender identity, 6
socioeconomic status, or disability status by ensuring equal access to economic 7
advancement and cultural reconstruction in the State of Vermont. 8
(h) In addition to the actions taken by this act, the State must engage in a 9
deep process of truth and reconciliation, guided by the persons wh