Sen. Cheryl Hooker, D/P-Rutland, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Education, said Tuesday that she will not seek reelection this year.
Hooker has been in and out of the Vermont Legislature for more than three decades, following her 1990 appointment to the House. She has served two stints in the Senate, the most recent of which began in 2019.
With Hooker stepping down, two of Rutland’s three Senate seats are wide open in this year’s state elections. Sen. Brian Collamore, R-Rutland, confirmed to VTDigger on Tuesday that he plans to run for another two-year term. The third member of the delegation, Sen. Joshua Terenzini, R-Rutland, announced in April that he won’t seek reelection.
Hooker’s and Terenzini’s departures are likely to lead to a competitive race to represent one of the state’s more conservative districts.
The pandemic factored into Hooker’s decision to step down, she said in an interview. Remote lawmaking, with all the emails and online communication, made it a “much more intensive job” than in previous years, she said.
Reflecting on her time in the Legislature, Hooker said she was most proud of its work on Act 60, which in 1997 restructured Vermont’s education finance system, in an attempt to equalize state spending across school districts.
And in something of full-circle moment for Hooker, her committee revisited the school formula this session in S.287. The bill overhauls “pupil weights,” the mathematical formulas intended to make school funding fairer.
S.287 passed both chambers and is on its way to the governor’s desk.
Hooker said she was also proud to have been a part of the Legislature when it legalized same-sex civil unions in 2000.
While Vermont has taken steps to increase health care access and affordability, she said, she wishes lawmakers had gotten closer to establishing a universal health care system.
She was a lead sponsor, alongside Sen. Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden, of a bill supporting universal vote by mail, which Gov. Phil Scott signed into law last session.
Hooker said she is looking forward to spending more time with her family.
“It’s been fascinating, it’s been wonderful and I’ll certainly miss it,” Hooker said. “But it’s time to see my grandkids.”
