Vermont House Passes H.132: Vastly Amended Homeless Bill of Rights
Photo: Vermont State House, in Winter (taken by Morgan W. Brown; circa: Sunday, February 10, 2013) Had read in Friday's vtdigger Final Reading column about how the Vermont House of Representatives recently passed H.132 , a vastly amended version of the homeless bill of rights legislation (compared to what had been originally introduced), which is now in the hands of the state Senate (fourth item down page; related excerpts of column), here : [...] As Vermont continues to struggle with rising rates of homelessness , lawmakers are trying to ensure that people without permanent shelter aren’t discriminated against because of their housing status. On Friday, the House passed H.132 , a bill that would essentially add homelessness as a protected class to the state’s various anti-discrimination laws, including Vermont’s Fair Housing Act and Fair Employment Practices Act . Under the latter law, an employer can’t refuse to hire someone based on their race, for example, or the...