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The 'Vermont Progressive Party' is an American political party. It was founded in 1999 and is active only in the U.S. state of Vermont.

Contents

History

Platform

Sources

External links

History

The Vermont Progressive Party originated with the independent campaign of Bernie Sanders for mayor of Burlington, Vermont. Sanders, who was later elected to the United States House of Representatives, and subsequently to the United States Senate, never officially associated himself with the Progressive Party, although the Progressives were among his biggest supporters. A group of his supporters organized themselves as the Progressive Coalition to contest further elections.
The Coalition succeeded in electing several members, including Terry Bouricius, to the Vermont General Assembly, and, after establishing a stable political base, formally became the Progressive Party. After picking up three new seats in the 2004 elections, it now has six representatives in the state House of Representatives, making it the only third party in the United States to have more than one state legislature seat, excluding states such as New York and South Carolina, which allow candidates to affiliate with more than one party (for example, leading to many Republican/Conservative or Democrat/Working Families members of the New York Legislature.)
In the run up to the Senate election in 2006, there were pressures from numerous Democratic politicians to convince the Progressive Party not to run a candidate for Vermont's sole seat in the House in exchange for Democratic support for Bernie Sanders in the Senate race. The party's chairman, Anthony Pollina, told the press his party was not going to make deals. David Zuckerman, an elected Progressive in the Vermont State House, was planning to run for Vermont's House seat. However, in early 2006, Zuckerman canceled his bid for Congress, leaving the race open to Democrat Peter Welch, who won the election.
In the Burlington mayoral election on March 7, 2006, voters chose Bob Kiss, a Progressive member of the Vermont State House of Representatives since 2001, over opponents Hinda Miller (Democrat) and Kevin Curley (Republican).

Platform

The Progressive platform is made of 14 points. First, in terms of agriculture, their goal is to protect family farmers and their land in order to be capable of dealing with global climate change.
Second, on civil rights, the state and local government should have affirmative action programs for full and equal access to jobs, housing, education, and public accommodations. There should be a "Zero Tolerance" policy against any form of discrimination or harassment. The VPP is pro-choice, pro-ERA, and wants to expand First Amendment rights in the workplace.
In terms of the criminal justice system, it is anti-death penalty and it wants to focus on programs that keep people out of prison and from committing crimes in the first place.
For the economy they want to promote unions, living wages, full employment, locally owned businesses, and other things like a $7.50 minimum wage.
Educational policies they support include mainstreaming special education children, changing which taxes fund schools, and increase funding for higher education.
Environmentally, they want to undo the damage already done, prevent more from occurring (i.e. enforce the limits for pollution runoff), and protect Act 250 which allows citizens input into how land is developed.
On families and children, the party calls for things such as affordable daycare, 12 weeks of maternity/paternity leave, and the ability of mothers to breastfeed in public.
In terms of government reform, they advocate for financial disclosure of candidates, instant runoff voting, and proportional representation in the state legislature.
They advocate that healthcare should be universal and affordable for all. They support affordable housing and encourage the development of personal privacy standards that guarantee how personally identifiable information is collected and distributed. In terms of taxes they support the fairness of taxes, changes in the level of taxation, and the awareness of the social impact of taxation.
In terms of transportation they support fixing the roads that exist before building new ones, support more mass transportation systems over roads, eliminate excessive trucking, that cars are a public health threat, and the need to "protect the livability of Vermont communities."
Finally, in terms of utilities they advocate that any restructuring should benefit citizens, no bailouts, they promote local public power, renewables, efficiency, and conservation, and want to close the Vermont Yankee plant without selling it. They also want to strengthen the Certificate of Public Goods Process.

Sources

''Burlington Free Press'' article "House committee OKs recognition of Progressives", February 19, 2005, page 5B.

External links

★ Official website