Sung to the tune of Beyonce: Who runs the Senate?
Girls.
Lt. Gov. Molly Gray on Wednesday morning unveiled the new Statehouse portraits of Vermont’s three female former-lieutenant governors: Consuelo Bailey, who served from 1955 to 1957; Madeleine Kunin, from 1979 to 1983; and Barbara Snelling, from 1993 to 1997.
As the fourth woman in state history to hold the title, Gray said she “stand(s) on the shoulders of these prior Vermont women who served as lieutenant governor, and certainly paved the way.” The modest ceremony, kept smaller than Gray said she would have liked due to Covid, was held in the Senate chambers, where each of the women during their tenures presided over the Senate.
In her portrait, a bespectacled Bailey is seen behind the Senate’s old plywood lectern, pearls around her neck and a gavel in her hand poised to strike. Kunin, in hers, smiles at the camera, her face resting in her hand. Snelling’s family chose to display her official lieutenant governor portrait, with the Statehouse gleaming in the background.
“It’s no secret that there are an abundance of portraits of men in this building,” Gray said. “While it’s true these images reflect the history of our state and the men who have served statewide, I must admit it gets a little lonely sometimes. And I do believe that I’m not the only woman, young woman, who has felt that walking through the Statehouse.”
Snelling’s daughter, former state Sen. Diane Snelling, R-Chittenden, attended on behalf of her mother. Now there are portraits of both of her parents in the Statehouse — her father being the late former-Gov. Richard Snelling. After the ceremony, Diane Snelling posed for a photo with Gray next to her mother’s portrait.
All of the portraits are photos as opposed to paintings — a deliberate choice from the team that led the project — and all are in black and white. They will be displayed outside the lieutenant governor’s Statehouse office.
— Sarah Mearhoff
IN THE KNOW
It’s time to upgrade your mask. The Joint Rules Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a change in the masking guidelines for everyone who enters the Statehouse, including lawmakers, staffers, lobbyists, members of the public and media.
For months now, everyone — vaccinated or not — who enters the Statehouse has been required to wear a face mask to prevent Covid transmission. But now, lawmakers are bolstering that requirement, mandating that everyone wear at least a surgical mask (the standard blue disposable ones). They will also accept higher-grade masks such as KN95s and N95s.
If anyone enters wearing a cloth mask, or a mask with any sort of holes or punctures, they can be escorted out of the building by Capitol Police or the sergeant at arms — lawmakers included. Surgical masks are available at the Capitol entrance.
The Joint Rules Committee on Wednesday did not make a final decision on whether or when lawmakers might return to work in person in Montpelier. Committee members said the question of establishing triggers for in-person versus remote legislating would be decided by the House and Senate Rules Committees separately for their respective bodies. Unless it passes an extension, the House is due back next week. The Senate can stay remote until Feb. 25.
— Sarah Mearhoff
A bill in the House Judiciary Committee would create a new office of racial justice statistics — but any data it collects would be exempt from public records laws.
One witness for the bill, Rebecca Turner, supervising attorney with the Office of the Defender General, expressed concern that H.546 would exempt all data collected in an attempt to protect individuals’ records. “You’re trying to address privacy concerns when that’s already set out by public records law,” she said.
Most witnesses and committee members spoke favorably of the bill, which would allow the state to connect disjointed criminal records systems to better analyze racial disparities.
Robin Joy, director of research for the Crime Research Group, shared a flowchart of the different records systems — police, courts and corrections — that looked like a blobby piece of abstract art. “A lot needs to be done to get these systems talking to each other,” she said.
Joy said she believes it’s worth the effort. “Here’s a chance to institutionalize the fact that data on race and marginalized communities matters, that it matters to the Legislature, that we have the consensus of a group of people from every aspect of the criminal justice system saying, ‘Yes, do this,’” she said.
— Erin Petenko
The House on Wednesday adopted the Senate-passed S.222, which temporarily drops a requirement that public boards offer a physical meeting space with at least one official present, even if everyone else is attempting to avoid Covid-19 by plugging into video conference platforms.
With House and Senate passage, S.222 now goes to the governor for his signature.
In a related bill, the House Government Operations Committee took testimony Wednesday on the Senate-passed S.223, which would suspend requirements for local candidates to file petitions to place their names on March 2022 ballots and give school district leaders flexibility when asked to commingle 2022 votes from multiple communities.
Under the temporary legislation, residents seeking local office would have to file only a “consent of candidate form” with their town or city clerk to meet deadlines as early as Jan. 24 for the March 1 ballot.
As for school votes, “The ballots may be counted by each member town and the results reported to the school district clerk for determination of the official district-wide results,” the bill states.
The full House is set to consider the exemptions for local candidate petitions and school vote commingling Thursday at 3 p.m.
— Kevin O’Connor
IN CONGRESS
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has reintroduced his 2020 bill proposing to manufacture and provide N95 face masks for everyone in the country as the Omicron variant continues to drive a surge in Covid cases in Vermont and nationwide.
If the Masks for All Act were to pass, every person nationwide would receive a free package of three N95 respirator masks, including people currently experiencing homelessness or living in group facilities such as shelters or prisons. The bill is cosponsored by 15 other Democratic senators.
Given the Omicron variant’s extreme contagiousness, Sanders said in a Wednesday press release, “we should remember that not all face masks are created equal.”
“It is an absolute scandal that in the richest country in the history of the world, high-quality masks are not more readily available to frontline workers, health care workers, and all Americans,” he said.
— Sarah Mearhoff
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
State Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden, plans to announce her bid for Vermont’s lone U.S. House seat on Thursday.
According to an email obtained by VTDigger from Ram Hinsdale’s campaign to supporters, the senator has “an exciting announcement” planned for Thursday. Ram Hinsdale has been publicly considering a run for the seat for months.
In an interview with VTDigger on Wednesday afternoon, Ram Hinsdale would say only that she has “been exploring a congressional run, and I really wanted to take my time with the decision. I’ll be ready to announce my plans to Vermonters tomorrow.”
Two people familiar with Ram Hinsdale’s plan confirmed she would be joining the race.
— Lola Duffort and Sarah Mearhoff
COVID CORNER
A program to distribute free rapid Covid-19 tests to Vermont households sold out in about five hours Wednesday.
Through a partnership with the National Institutes of Health, Vermont plans to distribute 500,000 rapid antigen tests to households in the state.
The first phase of the program offered 350,000 tests through an online portal that opened around 10 a.m. on Wednesday. By 2:45 p.m., all of the tests had been claimed, according to a statement from Gov. Phil Scott’s office.
— Mike Dougherty
WHAT’S ON TAP
Thursday, Jan. 13
8:30 a.m. — House Appropriations is continuing to work on the Budget Adjustment Act, in hopes of voting it out by Friday.
9 a.m. — House Education hears about the “State of Our Schools.”
9:45 a.m. — House General, Housing, and Military Affairs gets a walkthrough of H.387, which proposes a task force to develop reparations.
9:30 a.m. — House Judiciary hears testimony related to S.30, an act relating to prohibiting possession of firearms within hospital buildings.
10:15 a.m. — Senate Transportation takes testimony from the Agency of Transportation on how to implement the federal infrastructure bill.
1:30 p.m. — The Emergency Board will receive the twice-annual consensus revenue forecast crafted by the administration and Legislature’s economists.
WHAT WE’RE READING
Database Reveals Vermont Congressman Was a Slave Owner (Seven Days)
UVM Medical Center to impose emergency staffing as Omicron surges in Vermont (VTDigger)
