VT House Favors Truth & Reconciliation Commission Task Force Bill

The Vermont House voted Wednesday in favor of establishing a state commission to study the history of racism, discrimination and eugenics in Vermont statutes.

H.96, which was approved 109-30 in an initial vote, builds on last year’s Joint House Resolution 2 — a four-page, unanimously supported apology for a 1931 law that legalized eugenics via sterilization in Vermont.

As part of last year’s resolution, the state promised to take legislative steps to study the effects of the 1931 law and other forms of discrimination in Vermont, and attempt to repair the harm done over generations.  Rep. Tom Stevens, D-Waterbury, said the bill was the first step in that process, and it “goes beyond responding to eugenics.”

Read the full report in VTDigger.