Xusana Davis would love to lose her job. Vermont s first executive director of racial equity says nothing would please her more than if state leaders told her they no longer needed someone working to eradicate systemic racism in state government. I have a bottle of Champagne waiting for that day, Davis told lawmakers recently. Because the point of equity work is, we want to put ourselves out of business. For now, however, the 32-year-old from New York State seems to have enough work to last a lifetime as she confronts the pervasive racial inequities plaguing the second-whitest state in the nation.
weekly political column. Tim Newcomb What s all this talk we hear about systemic racism? In progressive, chill Vermont, such a thing couldn t be a problem. Well, OK, maybe racial bigotry pops up occasionally in web comments or the remarks of unenlightened people. But in a professional health care setting where you re talking with doctors and nurses, you d never see or hear it, right? Wrong.
Maria Mercedes Avila is devoting her career to combating the systemic biases that interfere with the delivery of good medicine to patients because of factors such as their race, sexual orientation or status as immigrants. A PhD who is an associate professor of pediatrics and an adjunct assistant professor of nursing at the University of Vermont and its Larner College of Medicine, Avila testified about her work one morning last week before the Vermont House Health Care Committee.
Mon, 03/01/2021 - 9:27am tim
by Devon Green, VAHHS Vice President of Government Relations Last week The House advanced H315, a $62 million mini-coronavirus relief fund (CRF) bill with the following:
State COVID Relief Bill:
$500,000 to address health care disparities by enhancing data collection
$350,000 each to the Association of Africans Living in Vermont (AALV) and VT Refugee Resettlement Program (USCRI)
The House Appropriations Committee did not include the House Health Care Committee’s request of $5 million in funding to expand the health care workforce, including $3 million in nurse and physician scholarships. This will likely go into the FY’22 budget.
Interstate Nurse Compact: The Senate Health and Welfare Committee advanced S.48, a bill that would allow Vermont to enter the Interstate Nurse Compact. VAHHS supports efforts to streamline licensing for nurses as a means of strengthening Vermont’s workforce.
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This past week, the Joint Rules Committee of the Vermont General Assembly set Friday, March 12 as the Legislatureâs âcrossoverâ date.
What does that mean?
Every year, the House and Senate agree to set a deadline for policy bills that need to be voted out of committee to be sent to the other chamber. âThis is our internal deadline to set which bills move on to the next step or not,â House Speaker Jill Krowinski said during the Joint Rules Committee meeting.
Why does it matter? If thereâs a bill that has your interest in the House or Senate, this is the moment where it may surge forward through the committee process, or land on the back burner.
Opinion: To fight gun violence, we must focus on problems upstream
Updated Feb 02, 2021;
Janelle Bynum, Rachel Prusak and Teresa Alonso León
Bynum, D-Clackamas, represents House District 51 in the Oregon Legislature and chairs the House Judiciary Committee. Prusak, D-West Linn, represents House District 37 and chairs the House Health Care Committee. Alonso León, D-Woodburn, represents District 22 and chairs the House Education Committee.
Over the last several months, we have seen a spike in gun violence incidents in Portland, which recorded its deadliest year in a quarter century.
Too many of these incidents involved adolescent Black youth as victims, friends and family members. Ja’mere Brown, 18; Abdushukri Uren, 16; Jaelin James Scott, 16; Mister Ford, 19; Julian Heredia, 19; and Shai’India Harris, 18, all lost their lives to gun violence.