Committee hears testimony for $150,000 appropriation to Vermont Language Justice Project

The Senate Health & Welfare Committee heard testimony in support of S.243, a proposal to appropriate $150,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Health for distribution to the Vermont Language Justice Project (VLJP) to prepare multilingual informational materials for disease outbreaks or other public-health emergencies.

Lisonbee Seager, VLJP’s founder and director, described the group’s track record: more than 220 unique videos produced in up to 21 languages, an app for iOS and Android, and more than 409,000 YouTube views and thousands of rapid-distribution responses during recent public-health events. "We were able to produce 17 informational videos in 17 languages within 36 hours" when Vermont needed rapid outreach, she told the committee.

Dr. Andrea Green, director of the Pediatric New American Program at UVM, testified that multilingual videos are a public‑health necessity that improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs by addressing health‑literacy barriers. She urged the committee to permit two tracks in the bill: (1) rapid emergency-response materials and (2) broader patient-education materials (for example, pre‑surgical or medication videos) that improve access and equity outside declared emergencies.

Committee members asked for more detail about how the $150,000 would be used and requested language amending the bill to explicitly cover distribution channels and examples of covered events (disease outbreaks and natural disasters such as floods). VLJP representatives said distribution is integral to their work — they send materials to translators and community leaders, use listservs and social media and provide files to school districts and statewide partners.

The committee did not vote on S.243 in this session; members asked VLJP and the Department of Health to provide implementation details and draft language that clarifies distribution and program scope before further action.