Senate Judiciary reviews Proposal 4, a proposed state equal-protection amendment headed for second biennium vote

Eric Dispatick, Office of Legislative Council, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 15 that Proposal 4 would add a freestanding equal-protection provision to the Vermont Constitution and reviewed its path through the legislature and to the ballot.

Dispatick said the amendment was approved in the first biennium: the committee voted it out on 04/10/2024 (5-0), the Senate passed it on 04/23/2024 (29-0, one absence) and the House passed it on 05/08/2024 (140-4). He said that because the amendment cleared the first biennial with the required majorities, it now must be approved again in this biennium before it can go to voters. "If both bodies again approve it in this biennium, it goes to the voters," Dispatick said, and he indicated the statewide ratification vote would occur in November 2026 if the Legislature approves it again.

The amendment’s operative language, Dispatick said, begins by stating that "the state shall not deny equal treatment under the law on account of" and then lists protected categories. He described the text as a state-level equal-protection clause similar to provisions adopted by a…