The Vermont Senate has increased capacity limits in its committee rooms in response to concerns over public access raised last week by newsrooms from across the state.
In at least four instances earlier this month, reporters from FOX44/ABC22, VTDigger and WCAX were turned away from either Senate or House committee hearings after lawmakers said their meeting rooms had reached capacity limits imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Legislative leaders and staff have said the limits are designed to keep people safe in cramped and aging meeting rooms with poor ventilation.
Vermont editors and news directors decried lawmakers’ actions as unconstitutional in a Jan. 17 letter to Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, and House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington. The letter said Baruth’s office initially resisted calls for increased access.
In a letter responding to news leaders Thursday afternoon, Baruth said the Senate Rules Committee voted this week to increase the capacity limits in most meeting rooms by 50% or more. Those new guidelines took effect Thursday and still meet the health and safety standards recommended by the sergeant-at-arms, Baruth said.
For instance, the Senate Transportation Committee’s room now has a stated capacity of 15 people, up from 10 previously. The Senate Finance Committee room can now accommodate 22 people, up from 12.
Baruth told news leaders that he, too, has been frustrated by the restrictions of doing business in an aging Statehouse. He said a long-anticipated project to replace the building’s HVAC system, which would allow more rooms to be used for hearings and allow more people to gather safely in others, likely won’t be finished until 2024.
“Your letter asked for creative solutions, and we have done our best over the last week to take a closer look at our policies and procedures, balance safety, Statehouse reorganization, and the essential right of press access to the lawmaking process,” Baruth said in his response. “It is my own belief that these policies will guarantee that access, and we are committed in the Senate to making that happen.”
Baruth’s letter also states that Senate committee chairs have been asked to consider holding hearings that they anticipate will draw larger-than-normal crowds in spaces with greater capacity, such as rooms at the nearby Pavilion Building, which houses Gov. Phil Scott’s office.
In addition, Baruth said that reporters who feel they are being wrongly excluded from a committee room can contact his office, and the pro tem will “resolve the access dispute and ensure press access then and there.” The Senate Rules Committee plans to revisit the slate of changes around the Town Meeting Day break, the pro tem wrote.
Krowinski’s office, meanwhile, doesn’t currently plan to increase the capacity limits in House committee rooms, Conor Kennedy, the speaker’s chief of staff, said Friday. Kennedy said House leadership would consider doing that if members of the media bring it up, but he wasn’t aware of any such concerns Friday, noting the letter from news leaders last week largely focused on the Senate.
“So unless something happens,” Kennedy said, “I think we continue to be in a pretty good place — but again, we’ll always take feedback and work on it.”
Kennedy added that Krowinski, like Baruth, would be willing to address any concerns reporters had with access to a committee room in the moment.
Paul Heintz, VTDigger’s editor-in-chief, said in an interview Friday that as long as the changes outlined in Baruth’s letter are fully enforced, he thinks they will address the concerns he and other news leaders shared last week about committee access.
“This is a really positive step in the right direction,” Heintz said. “We’re now in a place where both the House and the Senate appear to be taking the same approach — which is to do everything they can to accommodate the press. And we appreciate that.”
News leaders had also raised concerns this month that House lawmakers and staff were considering changing the rules that govern press access on the House floor, though Heintz said changes haven’t been made yet and Krowinski’s office has made assurances that newsrooms will be able to weigh in on any changes.
Wendy Mays, executive director of the Vermont Association of Broadcasters, said Friday that while she still has concerns about House floor access — after some television and radio journalists faced restrictions this month on where they can record — she was “really pleased” by the changes outlined in Baruth’s letter.
“These are really good ideas that have been put down into this plan,” Mays said. “And I just hope that it trickles down, and that everybody involved is aware.”
Editor’s Note: VTDigger editors advocating for Statehouse access were not involved in the assigning, editing or publication of this story.