The Vermont House gave final legislative approval Wednesday to a proposal that will ask voters this November to add an equal protection amendment to the state constitution. The 128-14 vote sends the measure, which has moved through the legislature for years, to a statewide referendum on the Nov. 3 general election ballot. The amendment’s language would guarantee that all people are treated equally under the law regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or nationality — a list that supporters say builds on the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by explicitly naming groups that have historically faced discrimination.
“The federal Constitution represents a floor, not a ceiling, of rights. It shows us the minimum we can do, not the maximum,” Rep. Barbara Rachelson, D/P-Burlington, said while presenting the proposal on the House floor. “Therefore, it’s important that Vermont develop its own jurisprudence regarding equal protection, and not simply rely on the one found in our federal Constitution.”
The amendment, designated PR.4, had already cleared the Senate in March with no votes against it, though one senator — Steve Heffernan, R-Addison — stepped out of the chamber moments before the roll call, later telling VTDigger that a stomach ailment forced him to the restroom. “My pizza hit at the right time, I guess,” Heffernan said, calling the timing “convenient” but adding that he had not made up his mind on the measure.
All but one of the 14 House members who voted no on Wednesday are Republicans, reflecting a caucus that has grown since 2024. The lone GOP lawmaker to offer an on-the-record explanation, Rep. Val Taylor of Mendon, framed her opposition in religious terms. “I believe in my heart — and, I’m sorry — the only words that are going to change Vermont and change this world, I believe, come from the Bible,” Taylor said. “True love, peace — how I raise my girls — comes from the Bible.” Among the other no votes were the vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Tom Burditt, R-West Rutland; the House assistant minority leader, Rep. Mark Higley, R-Lowell; and the vice chair of the state Republican Party, Rep. Zak Harvey, R-Castleton.
The proposal has now cleared the two consecutive legislatures required for a constitutional amendment in Vermont. If a majority of voters approve it in November, PR.4 will become the state’s 23rd constitutional article. It would join a majority of other state constitutions that already contain sex-equity or equal-protection clauses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and would be the third amendment Vermont has ratified in four years — following a 2022 vote that banned slavery and indentured servitude and another that broadly prevents the state from interfering in reproductive health care decisions.
The amendment’s supporters emphasize that the explicit language could guide future Vermont Supreme Court rulings, potentially providing stronger civil rights protections than those currently available under federal law. Opponents have voiced concerns about judicial overreach and religious liberty, though floor debate was limited, and the Senate’s unanimous approval left the bill’s final House passage largely a formality heading into the fall campaign.