David Zuckerman (politician)

Prior to serving in the House, he served on the Burlington Electric Commission.[11] Zuckerman ran for the Vermont House in 1994 while still enrolled in college, and lost by 59 votes.[12] He ran again two years later and become the fourth Progressive Party member to serve in the Vermont State House, a seat that he held through 2011.[13]

While in the House, he served for six years on the Natural Resources and Energy Committee as well as six years on the Agriculture Committee, including four as the chairperson.[11] He finished his time in the House of Representatives by serving on the Ways and Means Committee.[14]

Zuckerman considered running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2006 election when Vermont's lone House seat was being vacated by independent Bernie Sanders, who was a candidate for the United States Senate.[15] Zuckerman eventually decided not to run in order to continue serving as Agriculture chairman in the Vermont House.[16]

Zuckerman ran for Vermont State Senate from Chittenden County in the 2012 elections and won a seat in this six-member, at-large district.[17][18] In the Senate, Zuckerman served on the Agriculture and Education committees; he was vice chairperson of Agriculture, and clerk of Education.[14]

In his time in the legislature, Zuckerman was involved in the passage of Vermont's civil union and marriage equality laws, workers' rights legislation, increasing the minimum wage, sustainable (economic and environmental) agricultural policy, cannabis policy reform, election law reform, many renewable energy initiatives, progressive taxation policy as well as universal healthcare.

In January 2014, Zuckerman introduced legislation that would allow for recreational sale and use of cannabis.[19] If passed it would allow for possession of up to two ounces of cannabis, and the cultivation of up to 3 plants for anyone 21 and over.[20] It would also have the penalty for underage consumption of cannabis be the same as the current penalty for underage drinking.[20]

In 2016, Zuckerman ran for Lieutenant Governor as a Progressive candidate, earning the endorsement of Bernie Sanders before the August 9 primary.[21] He ran unopposed in the Progressive primary, while simultaneously defeating Vermont House Speaker Shap Smith and Representative Kesha Ram to win the Democratic nomination, and went on to defeat Republican Randy Brock in the general election.[3]

Beginning in 1999 Zuckerman and his wife Rachel Nevitt built a successful organic farm in Burlington's Intervale, a network of a dozen farms located in and serving the city.[11] Zuckerman served on the American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee. He is also a member of the Vermont Farm Bureau and Northeast Organic Farming Association chapter in Vermont.[11]

In 2009, Zuckerman and Nevitt moved their farm to 150 acres (610,000 m²) in Hinesburg where they grow 20 acres (81,000 m²) of vegetables and raise 1000 chickens.[11] Their produce is almost exclusively sold within Chittenden County.[22] They operate a summer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) with 275 members, a winter CSA with 125 members, and sell year round at the local Burlington farmers market.[23]

Zuckerman has been a strong advocate of raising the minimum wage, paid family leave, and increasing protections for workers.[24]

On April 25, 2006, Zuckerman introduced a resolution for the Vermont State Legislature to ask the United States Congress to impeach President George W. Bush.[25] The motion failed 87–60 in a roll call vote on April 25, 2007.[26]

Zuckerman supported a bill to lower property tax rates for households earning less than $200,000 in the 2015–16 session.[27] He also helped pass legislation to model this reform in time for the 2017 session.[28]

Zuckerman was a sponsor of H.440 in 2001, a bill which would require equal pay for equal work.[29]

In 2014, Zuckerman was the lead Senate author of Vermont's first-in-the-nation GMO Labeling Law.[30]

Zuckerman is critical of the philosophy of mandatory vaccinations.[31][32] He has said that he is skeptical about the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's position on vaccines due to its purported connections to the pharmaceutical industry, but believes the science of vaccination is sound.[31] He said that he believed that most people should vaccinate their children, but believes in exemptions for medical or religious reasons.[33] He said that some of his constituents had said that vaccines gave their children allergic reactions.[33] He has said that his own daughter is vaccinated.[31]