Welcome back, Statehouse rats! The building was bustling on Wednesday for the Legislatureโs first fully in-person session since the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020.
Well, mostly in person. In the Senate, newly elected President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, opened the 2023 session โ his first as the Senateโs top dog โ by introducing a resolution allowing for senators to debate, deliberate and vote remotely on a limited, emergency basis through Town Meeting Day. After the Legislatureโs weeklong Town Meeting recess, Baruth said, the Senate could evaluate whether to renew the resolution.
Baruth explained that working inside the building is โno doubtโ the most effective way to legislate. But he said that over the course of the pandemic, it has become clear that sickness and family emergencies sometimes force lawmakers to choose between staying home and legislating.
No more, he said. When and if senators test positive for or are exhibiting symptoms of Covid-19, or if they face an unplanned emergency that forces them to care for their children and family, Baruth said they will be able to participate in floor sessions remotely for up to two days. At that point, they will need the blessing of the Senate Rules Committee to continue working remotely.
Baruth said he hammered out the language of the resolution alongside Senate Secretary John Bloomer, a noted traditionalist and strict adherent to the Senateโs rules of decorum and parliamentary procedure.
โThe debate that the Secretary and I engaged in to try to wrap our heads around the totality of the issue was, there’s no doubt that being in the building makes you more effective. You represent your constituents most effectively by being here. And there’s a long, long, unbroken tradition of the need for physical presence on the floor to vote,โ Baruth said. โSo we wanted to make sure that that stayed in place, while still allowing for these temporary, unplanned emergencies.โ
Oh, the money I would have paid to be a fly on the wall listening to that debate.
As for the Senateโs committee work, each committee chair will have discretion about whether committee members meet in person or electronically, Baruth said.
Conor Kennedy, chief of staff for House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said that the House has been deliberating since last summer about whether to put in place similar rules for emergency remote participation for floor sessions. Thereโs an appetite to provide flexibility in case of emergency, he said โ and sooner rather than later.
However, when it comes to committee chairs making the calls on remote participation in committee hearings, Kennedy said thatโs a no-go on the House side. โI donโt see that happening,โ he said, adding that representatives are eager to โget back to normal.โ
โ Sarah Mearhoff
IN THE KNOW
Reps. Diane Lanpher, D-Vergennes, and Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, will helm the committees that craft the stateโs most consequential, must-pass legislation, Krowinski announced Wednesday afternoon. Lanpher will chair the House Committee on Appropriations, which helps to craft the state budget, while Kornheiser will chair the House Committee on Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over tax policy.
See the full list of House committee chairs here.
Krowinski also unveiled changes to how the committees are structured and what their jurisdictions will be. The Committee on Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife has been dissolved, and what was previously the Energy and Technology Committee is now the Environment and Energy Committee. Military affairs have been moved from the General and Housing Committee to join Government Operations.
Senate committee assignments are expected to be announced on Thursday.
โ Riley Robinson
The theme of Wednesday was turnover, turnover, turnover. Roughly one-third of this yearโs crop of lawmakers are starting their first terms.
Baruthโs election as president pro tempore also brings new leadership to the Senate โ though Baruth is no stranger to the Statehouse halls. In the House, Speaker Jill Krowinski was reelected in a near-unanimous voice vote on Wednesday.
โ Sarah Mearhoff
Attorney General-elect Charity Clark is planning to hold a campaign fundraiser Thursday evening, just hours after sheโs expected to take the oath of office.
According to an email invitation, tickets range from $25 at the โsupporterโ level, to $1,000, which admits three guests into a VIP cocktail hour.
Asked why she was fundraising so soon after taking office, Clark said, โVermont is the only state in the country that has a two-year term for attorney general. I have already filed my paperwork for 2024, even though I haven’t been sworn in yet. Itโs a very short timeframe.โ She added: โThe first filing deadline for 2023 is July 1st, and I want to make sure that I have a strong showing on that July 1st fundraiser, because I’m very serious about being attorney general โ and, of course, serious about the future for me in 2024.โ
Clark declined to share the eventโs guest list with VTDigger, citing guestsโ expectations of privacy. She said more than 90% of the people who had RSVP’d were her friends and family.
She confirmed she would accept donations from registered lobbyists during her tenure as attorney general, as is allowed under state law โ although officials are not allowed to solicit those donations while the Legislature is in session.
Clark said she would follow the law and would not seek out lobbyistsโ donations, but, โif someone sent me a random check, you know, Iโd probably deposit it.โ
She also said she would accept corporate donations, but would not accept campaign contributions from any entity involved in a case before her office.
Other soon-to-be executive branch officials โ all Democrats โ acknowledged that fundraising so soon after assuming office may be unusual in Vermont politics, but generally agreed that elected officials needed to maintain some campaign resources if they wished to run again.
โHonestly, if I had my act together a little more, I might have done what Charity is doing as well,โ Sarah Copeland Hanzas, soon-to-be secretary of state, said in an interview Tuesday. โIt’s unusual in the Vermont context, but it’s certainly not unusual for elected officials to begin fundraising, essentially, as soon as they take office, because a two-year election cycle is very short.โ
โ Riley Robinson
ON THE HILL
Cue the Jeopardy music. As of Wednesday evening, Vermontโs U.S. Rep.-elect Becca Balint remains in limbo, unable to be sworn in until U.S. House Republicans finally come to an agreement on who should serve as speaker of the House. Just before 4 p.m. Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., suffered his sixth loss in the vote for speaker. Shortly thereafter, the House adjourned once again with no speaker in place.
Outside the White House on Wednesday, Democratic President Joe Biden deemed the whole ordeal โembarrassing,โ and asked, โHow do you think this looks to the rest of the world?โ
Democrats remain united behind U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and 20 rogue Republicans have nominated and voted for alternatives to McCarthy, spoiling his bid for the top post.
โ Sarah Mearhoff
David Goodman, host of VTDiggerโs Vermont Conversation podcast, spoke with now-former U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy for an in-depth conversation just one day after Leahy passed the torch to U.S. Sen. Peter Welch.
Leahy on Tuesday concluded his historic 48-year career, during which he accumulated an enormous amount of influence in Congressโs upper chamber.
Listen to Goodmanโs conversation with Leahy here.
WHATโS ON DECK
Thursday, Jan. 5
- David Zuckerman is scheduled to be sworn in for his second stint as lieutenant governor at 11:30 a.m. in the Senate chamber.
- At 2:00 p.m. in the House chamber, Gov. Phil Scott is scheduled to take the oath of office, kicking off his fourth term as governor. Scott will then administer the oath to four executive officers: incoming Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas, incoming Attorney General Charity Clark, incoming Treasurer Mike Pieciak and returning Auditor Doug Hoffer. Scott will then deliver his inaugural address.
