Economic and Social Rights

Toward a People's Budget: Vermont Adopts New Vision for State Spending and Revenue Policies - Huffington Post
May 7, 2012
Almost exactly one year after enacting the United States' first universal health care law, the state of Vermont is once again showing the country that another world really is possible. In the wake of an impressively large and diverse May Day rally for human rights, the state legislature... Keep Reading »
Vermonters Demand Their Human Rights at Huge May Day Rally
May 3, 2012
This May Day, the Vermont Workers' Center brought a range of people's struggles together under the banner of "Put People First." Expanding the focus of the now famous "Healthcare Is a Human Right" rallies, held since 2009 in Vermont's capitol, Montpelier, this year... Keep Reading »
Human Rights Groups Rally on May Day
May 1, 2012
With the growth of the human rights movement and the emergence of Occupy Wall Street and associated Occupy groups across the country, this year’s May Day takes on deep significance for a newly energized dialogue about inequality and human rights. May Day 2012 involves hundreds of groups and... Keep Reading »
Beyond Vermont: Voices for a People's Budget in Florida
April 27, 2012
The People's Budget Review in St. Petersburg, Florida, is mobilizing tens of thousands of residents to make their voices heard in this year's local budget process. The mobilization is slated to culminate in September for the adoption of the city's final budget and revenue plan. Here... Keep Reading »
A Caste Society or an Egalitarian Democracy: Using a Human Rights Lens to See the Bigger Picture in Arizona Case
April 26, 2012
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding the federal government’s challenge to Arizona law SB 1070, an “attrition through enforcement” bill explicitly designed to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants in the state by making life so difficult and... Keep Reading »
First Step Toward a People's Budget Passed by Vermont Senate Committee
April 24, 2012
The People's Budget Campaign in Vermont has successfully pushed to define the purpose of the state budget as addressing "the needs of the people of Vermont in a way that advances human dignity and equity." After constituents from across Vermont, mobilized by the Vermont Workers... Keep Reading »
Haslam: Vermont Strong = Putting People First
April 18, 2012
The response to the devastation of Tropical Storm Irene should make us proud to be Vermonters. Thousands of people volunteered and contributed to efforts to get communities back on their feet. The new “I Am Vermont Strong” campaign has tapped into this community pride with the goal of... Keep Reading »
Op-Ed: The People’s Budget Puts Vermonters’ Needs First
April 16, 2012
The Vermont Workers’ Center has proposed a People’s Budget that would fundamentally change the way Vermont approaches budgeting and begins to address the problems of income disparity, poverty and the decline of Vermont’s middle class — all but forgotten this legislative... Keep Reading »
New Report by Public Assets Institute Asks: Is the State Budget Meeting Vermonters’ Needs?
April 9, 2012
MONTPELIER—Vermont needs a better budgeting process, one that starts with a goal of meeting Vermonters’ needs rather than making the numbers work. That’s the conclusion of a new report that raises questions about the “manage-to-the-money” approach to budgeting that... Keep Reading »
The People’s Budget Bill: In Times of Austerity, a Tool for Rights-Based Change
April 2, 2012
Vermont’s Put People First Campaign is organizing communities for a proactive solution to budget cuts and health care financing reform. Recalling that the real purpose of budget and revenue policies is to meet people’s fundamental needs, the Campaign has developed, in partnership... Keep Reading »