Since 2017, Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, had served as vice chair of the House Health Care Committee — until yesterday.
She not only lost the number two position, but was removed from the committee entirely and assigned to the Human Services Committee. Donahue views the move as retaliation by House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, for Donahue’s advocacy against Article 22, also known as Proposal 5, the reproductive rights amendment that voters overwhelmingly approved last November.
During the election, Donahue was the spokesperson for Vermonters for Good Government, the main advocacy group campaigning against the amendment’s passage.
“I was aware that I was taking that risk by being a prominent voice on an issue near and dear to the Speaker,” Donahue said, nodding to Krowinski’s role advancing the amendment and her past work for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. “And, to me, it was a matter of personal integrity that I speak on what I believe.”
Krowinski vigorously denied Donahue’s accusation in an interview Thursday.
About three weeks ago, Krowinski informed House Minority Leader Rep. Patti McCoy, R-Poultney, that Krowinski would be moving Donahue from Health Care and assigning her to the Committee on Commerce and Economic Development, McCoy said.
McCoy responded with concern, according to both McCoy and Donahue, noting that economic issues were far afield from Donahue’s decades of work on mental health. Krowinski eventually assigned Donahue to the Human Services Committee.
Donahue said she met with Krowinski on Tuesday, the day before lawmakers returned to the Statehouse and learned of their committee assignments for the year. In that meeting, Krowinski denied Donahue’s assignment had anything to do with Article 22, and told Donahue her strong advocacy skills were needed on other issues, according to Donahue’s characterization of their conversation.
“I told her, you know, I don’t think it adds up,” Donahue told VTDigger Thursday. “I said that doesn’t explain — why not Health Care? You know I’ve worked on mental health for 20 years.”
Donahue argued Krowinski’s reasons “don’t pass the straight-face test.”
“I’m extremely disappointed to hear that that’s what she thinks,” Krowinski said Thursday. “And it’s not true.”
Donahue wasn’t the only House member who lost their vice chair status, Krowinski said. Rep. Rodney Graham, R-Williamstown, was vice chair of House Agriculture last year, and is now a ranking member on the same committee.
Krowinski noted Donahue’s experience on the Human Services Committee. Donahue last served on Human Services in 2014, before she began her tenure on Health Care.
“With so many new chairs and vice chairs, and with 50 new members, I had a really challenging time figuring out the puzzle, and how we create these committees that are best representative by party affiliation, gender, geographic diversity, the skills people have, what knowledge they bring,” Krowinski said. “She was a great asset on that committee. So after talking with caucus leadership, it made sense for her there.”
Asked if she viewed Krowinski’s move as retaliation, McCoy declined to speculate: “I don’t know what it is,” she said. “I don’t want to comment on if it is or if it isn’t.”
During Wednesday’s floor proceedings, Donahue was ultimately the sole lawmaker to vote ‘no’ on Krowinski’s bid for a second term as speaker. Donahue also spoke at length against this year’s committee assignment process.
“Freedom of speech is on trial,” she declared on the floor. “It lost this round.”
— Riley Robinson
IN THE KNOW
Kicking off his fourth two-year term as Vermont’s top official, Republican Gov. Phil Scott in his inaugural address on Thursday echoed familiar calls for statewide economic recovery in the face of unprecedented opportunity.
But from Scott’s shoes, this legislative biennium looks quite different from the past two years and presents the state’s chief executive with new challenges.
Read more about Scott’s inaugural address here.
Watch and read the full speech here.
— Sarah Mearhoff
Five statewide executives — Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, Attorney General Charity Clark, Auditor Doug Hoffer, Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas and Treasurer Mike Pieciak — took the oath of office Thursday and officially commenced their two-year terms.
As in past years of Gov. Phil Scott’s tenure, Scott remains the lone Republican elected to serve in statewide office. Zuckerman is a Progressive/Democrat, Hoffer is a Democrat/Progressive and the remaining officials are all Democrats.
The group includes two historic firsts: Pieciak is the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve as treasurer, and Clark is the first woman elected as the state’s top prosecutor.
Read more about Vermont’s fresh slate of executives here.
— Riley Robinson
Viewers who tuned into Vermont Public to watch Gov. Phil Scott’s inauguration on Thursday may have wondered if the station was mistakenly airing “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” Instead, that was François Clemmons — better known as Officer Clemmons, the first black American to have a recurring role on children’s television — standing in the Statehouse and singing the national anthem.
Clemmons, born in Alabama 77 years ago, moved to Addison County in 1997 to teach at Middlebury College. But shortly after his retirement in 2013, he wasn’t expected to live after being diagnosed with pneumonia, a blood clot in his lungs, the inflamed chest-tissue condition pleurisy and failing kidneys that required near-constant dialysis.
A decade later, all of that was in the past as Clemmons sang a cappella before receiving a standing ovation, shouts of “Bravo!” and a hug from Scott. For the vocalist, it was just the prescription.
“The best thing I can do is share compassion, kindness and understanding,” Clemmons told VTDigger in a 2018 interview, “as all the response I’ve received has been like medicine.”
— Kevin O’Connor
Sha’an Mouliert, an artist, educator and community organizer from St. Johnsbury, administered Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman’s oath of office Thursday. Mouliert is the creator and photographer behind the I Am Vermont Too photo project — a portrait series of people of color in Vermont — and has exhibited her work three times in the Statehouse. She currently serves as the equity and inclusion consultant for the town of St. Johnsbury. The Rutland NAACP honored her with a lifetime achievement award in 2021.
When Mouliert got a call from Zuckerman a couple weeks ago, asking her to administer the oath, she was shocked, and exclaimed, “What!” Mouliert recalled Thursday, spreading her arms out wide. “What!”
“It was something that was so unexpected,” Mouliert said.
When selecting someone to administer the oath, Zuckerman said, he wanted to recognize someone who had devoted themselves to their community, but hadn’t received high-profile recognition. Most lieutenant governors, at least since the 1970s, have chosen a lawmaker or former lawmaker, a member of the judiciary or a loved one to administer the oath, according to records from the secretary of the Senate.
“When I was thinking about who to ask from around the state,” Zuckerman told VTDigger earlier this week, “I wanted someone who was engaged and involved in their community, who represented hard work and community spirit and positive energy.”
— Riley Robinson
Zuckerman’s address to the Senate following his swearing-in was rich with some Grade A maple puns.
The Legislature may have some sticky situations before them this session, Zuckerman told colleagues, but, “The challenge before you is to not become stymied by what may look bleak.”
“Instead, tap into your wealth of hidden resources, your areas of expertise and your reserves and boil your shared ideas down into solutions that will work for Vermonters,” he said.
Just as his speech began to flow, he offered a surprise reveal to senators in attendance: A small jar of maple cream tucked inside their desks. Sen. Becca White, D-Windsor, was quick to open her desk and exclaim, “Ooh!”
Farmer Dave’s Thursday speech continued his long tradition of agricultural metaphors and props, which over the years have included beans and flowers.
My unsolicited advice to Zuckerman for any future speeches: If you’re going to be this cheesy, maybe bring some Cabot next time.
— Sarah Mearhoff
The Senate is relaxing its strict no-H2O floor policy for three of its senators. The Senate Rules Committee convened Thursday to greenlight medical exemptions from the chamber’s ban on beverages for three members who have health conditions, including one who is nursing and one who is pregnant.
You may be wondering: What does the upper chamber have against water? Well, the furniture in the chamber is all original, making it a sort of living museum. And as this daughter of a cabinet maker knows, the enemy of wood is water. (To be clear, I was allowed to drink water in my house, but always with a coaster.)
To prevent spills, Senate Secretary John Bloomer is on the hunt for some reusable water bottles that won’t break the Senate’s no-logos-on-the-floor rule.
— Sarah Mearhoff
Three of the Vermont Senate’s standing committees have new chairs this year, according to a roster released Thursday by Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden.
Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast, will lead the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and General Affairs; Sen. Ruth Hardy, D-Addison, will lead the Senate Government Operations Committee; and Sen. Russ Ingalls, R-Essex, will lead the
Senate Institutions Committee.
See the full list of Senate committee chairs here.
— Riley Robinson
ON THE HILL
So tired, tired of waiting, tired of waiting for a U.S. House speaker. By the end of Thursday, U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy lost his eleventh bid to serve as speaker of the House, as the House Freedom Caucus continued to spoil the California Republican’s bid through Thursday’s floor session. History buffs out there will know that means this year’s vote marks the most ballots cast in a Speaker contest in 164 years.
Until the House has a speaker, members can’t yet be sworn in for the 118th Congress — meaning that Vermont’s U.S. Rep.-elect Becca Balint has yet to take her oath of office.
— Sarah Mearhoff
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Happy birthday to Speaker Krowinski, who was surprised by Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, and Senate Majority Leader Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, this afternoon with a cake, banner, song and lit sparkler (!) in her office. How festive!
— Sarah Mearhoff
WHAT’S ON DECK
- Friday: Finance Commissioner Adam Greshin gives an overview in House Appropriations at 3 p.m.
WHAT WE’RE READING
Powerless: In a record storm, a small electric cooperative struggled to turn on the lights — VTDigger
St. Albans school district contends with continued debate over policing in schools — VTDigger
Vermont’s walk-in Covid vaccination clinics to close by end of month — VTDigger
Quilting project welcomes Winooski immigrants with blankets — VTDigger