(This article by Aimee Caruso was first published in the Valley News on Feb. 11, 2017.)
[M]ONTPELIER — A month into Vermont’s 2017 legislative session, lawmakers are still getting to know the newbies, including two very junior legislators with Upper Valley connections.
While the millennials’ presence is “kind of old news,” their youth doesn’t go unappreciated, said 23-year-old Jay Hooper, the elder of two Randolph-area representatives elected to the Vermont House last fall.
“They do make their comments about how much we can eat,” he said. “Little friendly remarks.”
He has a “fair share of one-liners” and responds in kind, said Hooper, a Democrat who calls his fellow legislators “the older kids.”
“I think they like that,” he added.
He and Ben Jickling, 22, represent the Orange-Washington-Addison district, which includes Braintree, Brookfield, Granville, Randolph and Roxbury. Jickling was the top vote-getter in November, receiving 30 percent of the vote in the four-way race for two seats that included Randolph Republican Bob Orleck and veteran state Rep. Patsy French, D-Randolph. Hooper was a close second with 27 percent.
Sen. Mark MacDonald, D-Williamstown, was struck by the energy and competitiveness they brought to the race.
Competing against each other, they went to more houses and did more work and more follow-ups, he said. “The sort of thing that only youth has the stamina to do.”
The two men have also leapt what can be a troublesome hurdle, transitioning from being competitors to teammates.
“These two guys had fought tooth and nail for that second seat,” yet when the election ended, they were out picking up signs — their own and each other’s — and returning them to one another, MacDonald said. “I thought it was a good sign.”
Working with them has been “a breath of fresh air,” he said. “It makes you think back at your (own) career.”
So far, so good, say Jickling and Hooper, who both live in Brookfield.
“It’s been great,” Jickling said. “I’m on the Health Care Committee, which is fascinating.”
One of six independents in the House, he goes to both Republican and Democratic caucuses to stay in the know, said Jickling, who enjoys being outside a traditional party structure. “Nobody tells me how to vote or pushes me in any direction.”
And the environment is welcoming for newcomers. “Everybody’s very friendly and willing to help out,” he said.
Hooper’s favorite part of the week is being in the Statehouse, where he’s learning something “every second.”
“There is strategy to everything,” he said. As a representative, “it’s about trying to figure out who’s where on the issues, what issues matter to each group,” and what they’ll do to push or block legislation.
As freshmen legislators, their mission includes navigating a flood of new information.
“I’m like a sponge in a hurricane,” said Hooper, who serves on the Agriculture and Forestry Committee.
The son of former Secretary of State Don Hooper, he’s always been “rather politically inclined,” Hooper said. And when, after a bumpy period, he found his footing in school, he started to see himself as someone who could make a difference.
During high school at Trinity-Pawling, a boys’ boarding school in New York, he earned a number of leadership positions. “I thought, ‘Maybe I could do this in the real world. Maybe I could have a community-building impact on Vermont.’ ”
In addition to scaling the learning curve, his goal for the first year is proving that he cares about representing residents in his district, “as opposed to being a party line voter,” said Hooper, who has a bachelor’s degree in history and government from Connecticut College. “I just basically weigh out what’s most practical for my constituency.”
Jickling said he’s excited to work on rural economic development issues, ranging from high-speed internet to workforce development to retaining more young people in the state.
He’d also like to see an ethics bill proceed, said Jickling, who was studying political science at Trinity College, but last fall put his studies on hold to campaign, during which he knocked on more than 9,000 doors. It wasn’t his first campaign.
In 2014, the year after he graduated from Randolph Union High School, he helped with his cousin’s bid for a House seat. He lost by a little less than 100 votes, but Jickling liked the process.
“I enjoy getting out and talking with people, as well as the policy,” said Jickling, who played baseball and was senior class speaker at Randolph High. “I figured the Statehouse is the place to be.”
Weighing in on a current issue, they expressed differing opinions on the prospect of a tax increase in the state, which faces a $50 million budget gap.
Vermonters spoke pretty loudly, voting overwhelmingly for Gov. Phil Scott, “in terms of try to lessen some spending, but it’s tough,” said Jickling, who, in light of uncertain federal politics, supports exploring all of the options. “We can’t rule out anything.”
For Hooper, tax increases fall into “the red zone.”
“(Newly elected Gov.) Phil Scott was right. Affordability is undoubtedly the No. 1 issue for both the right and the left,” he said. And during his campaign, he heard a consistent message from voters: “This place is expensive, and we sure as hell don’t need any tax (increases).”
With that in mind he’s “pretty darn sure” he’ll do as much as possible to vote down any tax increases.
Mondays, which legislators have off, find them catching up on correspondence.
Vermont’s small districts allow for close, regular contact with representatives, and responding in a thoughtful manner can be time consuming, said Jickling, who estimates he gets 50 to 70 emails a week.
Some issues are complicated, and since he often disagrees with people, “it’s important to explain some of the nuances of your argument,” he said. “I think people appreciate it.”
Last Monday, Hooper was working to connect with constituents who had reached out to him the week before.
Being new, he prefers to talk on the phone or in person, when possible, “so they can get to know me better,” he said. Getting back to everyone “is a juggling act.”
Not uncommon for the state’s legislators, they both work other jobs. Jickling works at Montague Golf Club in Randolph and leads the Randolph Area Mentoring Program, which is expected to launch this fall. Hooper holds cheese tastings at supermarkets for his family’s company, Vermont Creamery, and helps on their Randolph farm when needed.
Legislators can receive reimbursement for overnight stays in Montpelier during the session, but with Brookfield so close to the capital, they each commute — Hooper lives with his parents and Jickling has an apartment. Yet they’re careful to pencil in after-hours with colleagues.
“All these other legislators give you the same advice: Stay at least one night a week to get to know (everyone) and figure out what types of things are going on in other parts of the building,” Hooper said of Statehouse culture. To that end, he spends the night in the city once or twice a week.
Jickling stays late a few nights a week in Montpelier to have dinner or grab a beer with his fellow legislators, he said. “That’s where a lot of stuff happens.”
