Rep. Martha Heath, chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, will not seek re-election to a 12th term.
Heath, a Westford Democrat, served 22 years in the House, including 10 as chair of the budget-writing committee.
“The reasons for leaving are many but in the end they boil down to the fact that my head and my heart are telling me that it is time to step aside,” Heath wrote in an email that said she was currently traveling out of state. “I have been honored by the trust the voters in my districts have placed in me.”
As of 5 p.m. Monday, only one person had filed a petition with the Secretary of State’s Office to run in Heath’s Chittenden 8-3 district — Republican Robert Bancroft.
Heath, 67, said she did not have any immediate plans and thanked her constituents, fellow lawmakers and Statehouse staff for their support.
“One of the joys of serving in the legislature is all the wonderful people you meet and work with,” Heath wrote in the email. “The people who staff the Joint Fiscal Office and Legislative Council are incredible resources to legislators and I feel privileged to have worked with them. The people who staff the legislature and its committees are all great assets. Most of all, my fellow legislators are all people who come to the job with varied perspectives and ideas about how to move the state forward. In the end I have found every one of them to be people who care deeply about Vermont and its people. It has been a true pleasure to work with them.”