After record turnover, a new crop of Vermont legislators is sworn in for the 2023 session

By SARAH MEARHOFF and RILEY ROBINSON

VTDigger

Published: 01-04-2023 10:38 PM

MONTPELIER — The Vermont Statehouse was teeming with excitement Wednesday morning as the Legislature gaveled in for its first fully in-person session since the coronavirus pandemic forced lawmakers to go remote nearly three years ago.

Adding energy to the legislative session’s first day was a historic level of turnover in both the House and Senate this year: Roughly one-third of lawmakers in each body are new to the role.

In a floor speech, newly elected Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden, said the wave of turnover will present both opportunities and difficulties over the course of the five-month session. In the 30-member Senate, 10 new members are entering the chamber this year.

Dubbing his new colleagues “the Big 10,” Baruth said their electoral victories were “historic” and “cause for hope and celebration.” Looking at the roster of fresh faces before him, Baruth said, “It’s an astonishing pace of change.”

“While we’re fortunate to have 10 new members entering the chamber, we are equally blessed to have 20 experienced, battle-hardened senators returning for another tour of duty. Twenty senators I’ve come to love over the years, 20 senators with whom I’d trust my life,” Baruth said. “Some would disagree, but I think our proportions today are just about perfect, our ratio of fresh talent to hard-core experience.”

Baruth is no stranger to the upper chamber, having represented Chittenden County in the body since 2010. But he is new to the Senate’s highest-ranking position. Baruth is replacing Becca Balint as pro tem. Balint, who vacated her seat in Montpelier in order to run for Congress, is expected to be sworn in as Vermont’s lone member of the U.S. House this week.

The Senate’s Democratic caucus unanimously nominated Baruth to helm the body in November. No senators challenged him to the role during Wednesday’s official election.

Down the hall, the House elected Rep. Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, to serve a second biennium as speaker by a near-unanimous voice vote. Her overwhelming reelection was expected after she announced her intentions to seek a second term at the close of the 2022 session and was re-nominated to her post at a Democratic caucus meeting in December.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

Only one lawmaker, Rep. Anne Donahue, R-Northfield, voted ‘no’ on Krowinski’s nomination, crying foul over the House’s procedure in conducting the vote. No representatives challenged Krowinski for the role during Wednesday’s vote.

Krowinski’s two years as speaker have been largely colored by the coronavirus pandemic, during which lawmakers were forced to conduct much of their business remotely. She also, alongside Balint, oversaw the appropriation of an unprecedented influx of federal COVID-19 relief funding. And in a Statehouse that has often seen rifts between House and Senate leadership — even when both camps subscribe to the same political party — Krowinski’s working relationship with Balint was consistently smooth.

In her first speech to the House’s new cohort of lawmakers, Krowinski nodded to the body’s historic level of turnover this session and asked members to work collaboratively.

“The only way we will get legislation passed is if we’re all focused on the goal of supporting Vermonters and creating a vibrant, more resilient state for future generations,” Krowinski said.

As speaker, Krowinski has for two years wrangled the 150-member body in order to pass legislation and stand up to Republican Gov. Phil Scott. She hasn’t succeeded in every feat, most notably failing to override two of Scott’s vetoes last session by a single vote each.

But this year, she holds a better hand. Democrats and Progressives picked up 10 seats in the House in November’s election, making for a historic 109-seat majority — more than the two-thirds majority needed to override Scott’s vetoes.

House members also voted to reelect BetsyAnn Wrask as House clerk, and senators voted to reelect John Bloomer as secretary of the Senate.

Outgoing Secretary of State Jim Condos was unable to attend Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony, so Deputy Secretary of State Chris Winters administered Krowinski’s oath of office. On the Senate side, outgoing Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, a Democrat, administered Baruth’s oath of office. Vermont’s newly elected secretary of state, Sarah Copeland-Hanzas, and lieutenant governor, David Zuckerman, are both scheduled to be sworn in on Thursday.

]]>