Office of Racial Equity briefs House Government Operations committee on mandate, staff and pending proposals

Lizana Davis, executive director of the Office of Racial Equity, told the House Government Operations & Military Affairs Committee on Jan. 23 that the office's mandate originates in the 2018 special-session legislation and the office operates under 3 V.S.A. a7 1512. Davis gave an overview of staff, recent work and policy items the office expects to bring to committees this session.

Davis said the office has grown to a team of seven and now includes a Division of Racial Justice Statistics (DRJS), which focuses on collecting and analyzing justice-system data while also examining upstream factors such as housing, education and employment that influence justice outcomes. "We have become a team of 7," Davis said. "Despite the added and much needed assistance, the workload never seems to right size."

Davis listed several items the office has on its radar for the committee's consideration: a proposal to set a statewide minimum model policy for how law-enforcement agencies handle religious head coverings during bookings (initially requested of the Vermont State Police in 2020 and now proposed for statewide adoption); H.3, a short-form bill on educational and experience minimum qualifications for state service; and an ongoing evaluation of pay parity in state employment that arose from the Department of Human Resources inquest.

Davis said the statewide model policy on religious head coverings is intended to reduce dignity violations and potential civil-rights exposure and that adoption could have minimal or no fiscal cost beyond potential provision of disposable items such as disposable hijabs. "It is now our desire that we create a standard for all law enforcement agencies around the state to adhere at a minimum to that policy that we established at the state level," she said.

She also urged legislators to review the office's prior annual report's five-year lookback, a compendium of the office's recommendations and policy proposals, and offered the office as an ongoing advisor to committees. Davis warned that federal policy and funding changes could complicate state-level work and called for explicit reaffirmation of the state's stated equity principles when budgeting and making cross-committee choices.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about jurisdiction and the committee's role; Davis offered to provide briefings when specific short-form proposals are scheduled. The committee did not take any formal action on the items during the recorded meeting.

Ending: Davis asked members to engage the Office of Racial Equity as an advisor during the session and offered to return with briefings on specific bills and data findings.