Senate leadership announced a changing of the guard on Thursday. New chairs of Finance, Economic Development, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Education, and Institutions were named Thursday.
Democrat/Progressive Tim Ashe, D-Burlington, won the coveted Finance chair, replacing Washington Democrat Ann Cummings, who lost in a bid to unseat Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell late last year, and who voluntarily left her chairmanship.
“The Finance Committee is really the crown jewel of the Senate,” said Ashe. “It touches on almost all of the really high impact areas of people’s lives in Vermont. … It’s a huge honor and I’m very grateful for it. It’s also a huge responsibility.”
The committee covers topics such as health care financing, renewable energy financing, and revamping the tax code.
Ashe expressed interest in examining the impact of various financing schemes for health care reform on businesses and families. He also wanted to review and eliminate certain tax exemptions, but added that he’d only support raising broad-based taxes as a last resort, in line with Gov. Peter Shumlin’s consistent stance on that point.
Other candidates for Finance chair included Dick Sears and Mark MacDonald, who were reportedly preferred by Shumlin. But Dick Mazza, a member of the three-member Committee on Committees, which selects chairs, said, “You can’t base your decision on what the governor wants.”
Mazza, a Democrat from Colchester, said he, Campbell and Lt. Gov. Phil Scott had kept politics out of the selection process, pointing out that there were two new Republican chairs.
These were Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, who won the Economic Development chair formerly held by veteran senator Vince Illuzzi, and Peg Flory, another Rutland Republican, who won Institutions chair.
“These appointments, I think, are some of the most creative appointments that we have seen in years in the Senate,” said Campbell, speaking to the new configuration as a whole. “I think we’re going to end up with a tremendous output from the Senate this year, one that’s very thoughtful.”
Dick Sears, D-Bennington and Judiciary chair, said he wasn’t too disappointed by the results, announced Thursday in the Senate chamber. Although he would have liked to chair Finance or Appropriations, he kept his powerful Judiciary chairmanship.
Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden, another senator who arguably lost out, couldn’t be reached for comment. Bennington Democrat Bob Hartwell won Natural Resources chair in her place.
Hartwell said he was happy with the change, adding that he wants to work on water quality, wind energy, and land use issues in committee. He said he wasn’t directly involved in any struggle with Lyons over the chairmanship and declined further comment.
President Pro Tem Campbell said Hartwell’s previous work on the Natural Resources Committee, as well as his job as an attorney specializing in environmental issues, factored into their decision.
Campbell didn’t doubt Lyons’ qualifications, but said that long terms as committee members or chairs could sometimes be unhealthy, since it left the talents of other senators unexplored and unused.
Lyons became Natural Resources chair in 2003, according to her campaign website.
The committee assignments are:
MORNING COMMITTEES
Agriculture
Sen. Bobby Starr (D-Essex-Orleans), Chair
Sen. David Zuckerman (P-Chittenden), Vice Chair
Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison)
Sen. Bill Carris (D-Rutland)
Sen. Norm McAllister (R-Franklin)
Economic Development
Sen. Kevin Mullin (R-Rutland), Chair
Sen. Philip Baruth (D-Chittenden), Vice Chair
Sen. Don Collins (D-Franklin)
Sen. Ann Cummings (D-Washington)
Sen. Bill Doyle (R-Washington)
Health & Welfare
Sen. Claire Ayer (D-Addison), Chair
Sen. Sally Fox (D-Chittenden), Vice Chair
Sen. Ginny Lyons (D-Chittenden)
Sen. Dick McCormack (D-Windsor)
Sen. Anthony Pollina (D-Washington)
Judiciary
Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington), Chair
Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia), Vice Chair
Sen. Alice Nitka (D-Windsor)
Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham)
Sen. Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden)
Natural Resources
Sen. Bob Hartwell (D-Bennington), Chair
Sen. Diane Snelling (R-Chittenden), Vice Chair
Sen. Peter Galbraith (D-Windham)
Sen. Mark MacDonald (D-Orange)
Sen. John Rodgers (D-Essex-Orleans)
Transportation
Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Chittenden-Grand Isle), Chair
Sen. Rich Westman (R-Lamoille), Vice Chair
Sen. John Campbell (D-Windsor)
Sen. Peg Flory (R-Rutland)
Sen. Jane Kitchel (D-Caledonia)
AFTERNOON COMMITTEES
Appropriations
Sen. Jane Kitchel (D-Caledonia), Chair
Sen. Alice Nitka (D-Windsor), Vice Chair
Sen. Sally Fox (D-Chittenden)
Sen. Dick Sears (D-Bennington)
Sen. Diane Snelling (R-Chittenden)
Sen. Bobby Starr (D-Essex-Orleans)
Sen. Rich Westman (R-Lamoille)
Education
Sen. Dick McCormack (D-Windsor), Chair
Sen. Don Collins (D-Franklin), Vice Chair
Sen. Philip Baruth (D-Chittenden)
Sen. Bill Doyle (R-Washington)
Sen. David Zuckerman (P-Chittenden)
Finance
Sen. Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden), Chair
Sen. Mark MacDonald (D-Orange), Vice Chair
Sen. Chris Bray (D-Addison)
Sen. Peter Galbraith (D-Windham)
Sen. Bob Hartwell (D-Bennington)
Sen. Ginny Lyons (D-Chittenden)
Sen. Kevin Mullin (R-Rutland)
Government Operations
Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham), Chair
Sen. Anthony Pollina (P/D/W-Washington), Vice Chair
Sen. Claire Ayer (D-Addison)
Sen. Bill Carris (D-Rutland)
Sen. Norm McAllister (R-Franklin)
Institutions
Sen. Peg Flory (R-Rutland), Chair
Sen. Ann Cummings (D-Washington), Vice Chair
Sen. Joe Benning (R-Caledonia)
Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Chittenden-Grand Isle)
Sen. John Rodgers (D-Essex-Orleans)
