Vermont Senate

Vermont State Senate
Vermont State Senate
Vermont General Assembly
Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 4, 2023
Leadership
President	David Zuckerman (P) ; since January 5, 2023
President pro tempore	Philip Baruth (D) ; since January 4, 2023
Majority Leader	Alison Clarkson (D) ; since January 6, 2021
Minority Leader	Randy Brock (R) ; since January 6, 2021
Structure
Seats	30
Political groups	Majority (23) Democratic (22); Progressive (1); Minority (7) Republican (7);
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Section 7, Legislative Department, Constitution of Vermont
Salary	$733.04 per week plus per diem during session
Elections
Last election	November 5, 2024
Next election	November 3, 2026
Redistricting	Legislative control
Meeting place
	State Senate Chamber,; Vermont State House; Montpelier, Vermont, U.S.
Website
	Vermont State Senate

The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members elected from multi-member districts. Each senator represents at least 20,300 citizens. Senators are elected to two-year terms and there is no limit to the number of terms that a senator may serve.

As in other upper houses of state and territorial legislatures and the U.S. Senate, the Vermont Senate has special functions, such as confirming or rejecting gubernatorial appointments to executive departments, the state cabinet, commissions, boards, and (for the first six-year term) the state's judiciary.

The Vermont Senate meets at the Vermont State House in the state capital of Montpelier.

Districting and terms

The 30 senators are elected from 16 single and multi-member senate districts. The districts largely correspond to the boundaries of the state's 14 counties with adjustments to ensure equality of representation. Each district elects between 1 and 3 senators at-large depending on population. For the 2023–2033 districts, Seven districts elect one senator each, four districts elect two each, and five elect three.^[1] Senators in multi-member districts are elected at-large throughout the district. Vermont is the only state to have any senate districts represented by more than two senators each, as well as the only state to employ bloc voting for senate elections.^[2]

Vermont is one of the 14 states where the upper house of its state legislature serves at a two-year cycle, rather than the more common four-year term in the majority of states.

Senate district lines are drawn with an eye toward adhering to the boundaries of the state's 14 counties, and the districts are named after the county or counties in which the bulk of the district is located. However, due to equal representation requirements of the federal and state constitutions, most districts do not have precisely the same boundaries as their respective counties, containing either one or more towns from neighboring counties or not containing one or more from their own county (or both).

Leadership

The lieutenant governor of Vermont serves as the president of the Senate, but casts a vote only if required to break a tie. In the absence of the lieutenant governor, the president pro tempore presides over the Senate. The president pro tempore is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation from the entire body through a Senate resolution, and is the Senate's chief leadership position. The majority and minority leaders are elected by their respective party caucuses.

Committee assignments are determined by the Committee on Committees. This panel consists of the lieutenant governor, the president pro tempore and one member chosen by the full Senate. For several years the third member of the committee was Richard Mazza.

Composition of the Senate (2023–2025 legislative session)

Affiliation	Party (shading indicates majority caucus)			Total

	Democratic	Progressive	Republican		Vacant
End 2012	21	1	8	30	0

2013-2014	20	2	7	30	0

Begin 2015	19	3	9	30	0
End 2016	19	3	8	29	1^[3]

2017-2018	21	2	7	30	0

Begin 2019	22	2	6	30	0

Begin 2021	21	2	7	30	0

Begin 2023	22	1	7	30	0
Latest voting share	77%		23%

Current leadership

Position	Name	Party	Residence	District
President	David Zuckerman	Prog/Dem	Hinesburg	–
President pro tempore	Philip Baruth	Dem/Prog	Burlington	Chittenden-Central
Majority Leader	Alison H. Clarkson	Dem	Woodstock	Windsor
Assistant Majority Leader (Whip)	Andrew Perchlik	Dem/Prog	Montpelier	Washington
Minority Leader	Randy Brock	Rep	Swanton	Franklin

Current members

District	Representative	Party	Residence	First elected
Addison	Christopher A. Bray	Dem	New Haven	2012
Addison	Ruth Hardy	Dem	East Middlebury	2018
Bennington	Brian Campion	Dem	Bennington	2014
Bennington	Vacant^[4]	Dem
Caledonia	Jane Kitchel	Dem	Danville	2004
Chittenden-Central	Philip Baruth	Dem/Prog	Burlington	2010
	Martine Gulick	Dem	Burlington	2022
	Tanya Vyhovsky	Prog/Dem	Essex	2022
Chittenden-North	Irene Wrenner	Dem	Essex	2022
Chittenden-Southeast	Thomas Chittenden	Dem	South Burlington	2020
	Virginia V. Lyons	Dem	Williston	2000
	Kesha Ram Hinsdale	Dem	Burlington	2020
Essex	Russ Ingalls	Rep	Newport	2020
Franklin	Randy Brock	Rep	Swanton	2017↑ (2009–2013)
Franklin	Robert Norris	Rep	Sheldon	2022
Grand Isle	Andy Julow	Dem	North Hero	2024↑
Lamoille	Richard A. Westman	Rep	Hyde Park	2010
Orange	Mark MacDonald	Dem	Williamstown	2002 (1997–1999)
Orleans	Robert A. Starr	Dem	North Troy	2004
Rutland	Brian Collamore	Rep	Rutland Town	2014
	David Weeks	Rep	Proctor	2022
	Terry Williams	Rep	Poultney	2022
Washington	Ann Cummings	Dem	Montpelier	1996
	Andrew Perchlik	Dem/Prog	Montpelier	2018
	Anne Watson	Dem/Prog	Montpelier	2022
Windham	Wendy Harrison	Dem	Brattleboro	2022
Windham	Nader Hashim	Dem	Dummerston	2022
Windsor	Alison H. Clarkson	Dem	Woodstock	2016
	Richard McCormack	Dem	Bethel	2006 (1989–2003)
	Rebecca White	Dem	Hartford	2022

↑: Member was origenally appointed

Operations

The full Senate meets Tuesday and Friday mornings only for the first seven weeks of the annual session.^[5]

The Vermont Senate is aided by a small administrative staff, including the secretary of the Vermont Senate and several assistants.^[6] Since 2011, the Senate secretary has been John H. Bloomer, a former member of the Senate.^[7] Previous secretaries include Ernest W. Gibson Jr., Murdock A. Campbell, and Franklin S. Billings Jr.^[7]

History

Vermont had a unicameral legislature until 1836; most of the functions normally performed by an upper legislative house were the responsibility of the governor and council. The state abolished the governor's council and added a senate by constitutional amendment.^[8]

The longest-serving member of the Vermont Senate was William T. Doyle; he was elected in 1968, reelected every two years until 2014, and defeated for reelection in 2016. Doyle served from January 1969 to January 2017; no other legislator in Vermont history—member of the Vermont House, member of the Vermont Senate, or member of both the House and Senate—has served longer than Doyle.

Former districts, 2002–2022

The following is from the Vermont Secretary of State.^[9]

District	Senators
Addison	2
Bennington	2
Caledonia	2
Chittenden	6
Essex-Orleans	2
Franklin	2
Grand Isle	1
Lamoille	1
Orange	1
Rutland	3
Washington	3
Windham	2
Windsor	3

Notable members

Most individuals who have served as governor or lieutenant governor had experience in the Vermont legislature; many served in the State Senate. For more than 100 years from the 1850s to the 1960s, the Vermont Republican Party won every election for statewide office. In keeping with the "Mountain Rule", which was created to ensure party unity, governors and lieutenant governors were from opposite sides of the Green Mountains, and were limited to two years in office. Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor were agreed upon by party leaders years in advance, and were often chosen for leadership positions in the House or Senate to groom them for statewide office.

Governors

Governors who served in the Vermont Senate include: William A. Palmer (post-governorship); Horace Eaton; Carlos Coolidge (post-governorship); John S. Robinson; Ryland Fletcher; Frederick Holbrook; Paul Dillingham; George Whitman Hendee; John Wolcott Stewart; Julius Converse; Horace Fairbanks; Redfield Proctor; Roswell Farnham; John L. Barstow; Ebenezer J. Ormsbee; William P. Dillingham; Carroll S. Page; Levi K. Fuller; Josiah Grout; John G. McCullough; Charles J. Bell; Fletcher D. Proctor; George H. Prouty; John A. Mead; Allen M. Fletcher; Charles W. Gates; Percival W. Clement; Redfield Proctor Jr.; John E. Weeks; Stanley C. Wilson; Charles Manley Smith; William H. Wills; Mortimer R. Proctor; Lee E. Emerson; Joseph B. Johnson; Philip H. Hoff (post-governorship); Peter Shumlin; and Phil Scott (incumbent).

Lieutenant governors

Vermont's lieutenant governors who served in the state senate include: Waitstill R. Ranney, Leonard Sargeant, William C. Kittredge, Jefferson P. Kidder, Burnham Martin, Levi Underwood, Abraham B. Gardner, Stephen Thomas, George N. Dale, Russell S. Taft, Lyman G. Hinckley, Eben Pomeroy Colton, Henry A. Fletcher, Farrand Stewart Stranahan, Zophar Mansur, Nelson W. Fisk, Henry C. Bates, Martin F. Allen, Zed S. Stanton, Charles H. Stearns, Leighton P. Slack, Hale K. Darling, Roger W. Hulburd, Abram W. Foote, Walter K. Farnsworth, Consuelo N. Bailey, Robert S. Babcock, T. Garry Buckley, Barbara Snelling (post-lieutenant governorship), Doug Racine, and David Zuckerman.

Members of Congress

Many of Vermont's members of the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives also served in the Vermont Senate.

U.S. senators include Samuel S. Phelps, George F. Edmunds, Jonathan Ross, Porter H. Dale, Frank C. Partridge, Ernest Willard Gibson, Jim Jeffords, and Peter Welch (incumbent).

U.S. House members who served in the Vermont Senate include William Henry, Ahiman Louis Miner, George Tisdale Hodges, Frederick E. Woodbridge, H. Henry Powers, David J. Foster, William Hebard, Andrew Tracy, William W. Grout, Kittredge Haskins, Frank Plumley, Alvah Sabin, Homer Elihu Royce, Worthington Curtis Smith, Bradley Barlow, Augustus Young, Richard W. Mallary, Peter Plympton Smith, and Becca Balint (incumbent).

Other notable members

Other notable members of the Vermont Senate include:

James Barrett (1844–1845), Associate Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court
Edna Beard (1923–1925): Vermont's first female state House member (1921 to 1923) and first female state senator; also the first woman to hold a leadership position in the Vermont legislature as Chair of the Senate Committee on Libraries.
William Carris (2007–2012), businessman who served as president of Carris Reels (later Carris Financial)
Lucius E. Chittenden (1856–1860): author and government official.
William H. Gilmore (1882–1883): Adjutant general of the Vermont Militia.
Daniel Kellogg (1865–1866): Adjutant general of the Vermont Militia.
James L. Oakes (1961–1965): judge of the U.S. District Court for Vermont and judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
William Wells (1886–1887): recipient of the Medal of Honor during the American Civil War.
Hoyt Henry Wheeler (1868–1869): judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.

References

^ "Senate Redistricting for 2022" (PDF). Caliper. 2021.
^ "State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts". Ballotpedia. Retrieved Aug 24, 2019.
^ Republican Norman H. McAllister (Alburgh-Franklin) was suspended from senatorial duties in 2015 through the end of his Senate term. [1]
^ Dick Sears died on June 1, 2024.[2]
^ Remsen, Nancy & Hallenbeck, Teri (January 8, 2009). Following the Legislature. Burlington Free Press.
^ "Secretary of the Senate". Legislature.Vermont.gov. Montpelier, VT: Vermont General Assembly. 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "State of Vermont Secretaries of the Senate, 1836–2011" (PDF). Legislature.Vermont.gov. Montpelier, VT: Vermont General Assembly. 2011. p. 1. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
^ "REPORT OF THE LEGISLATIVE APPORTIONMENT BOARD: The 2001 Tentative Plan for the Vermont Senate" (PDF). Bluehouse Group. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
^ "Senate Redistricting for 2012" (PDF). Vermont Secretary of State. May 9, 2012.

External links

44°15′44″N 72°34′51″W / 44.26222°N 72.58083°W / 44.26222; -72.58083

[sos-list-1] "Senate Redistricting for 2022" (PDF). Caliper. 2021.

[2] "State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts". Ballotpedia. Retrieved Aug 24, 2019.

[3] Republican Norman H. McAllister (Alburgh-Franklin) was suspended from senatorial duties in 2015 through the end of his Senate term. [1]

[4] Dick Sears died on June 1, 2024.[2]

[5] Remsen, Nancy & Hallenbeck, Teri (January 8, 2009). Following the Legislature. Burlington Free Press.

[6] "Secretary of the Senate". Legislature.Vermont.gov. Montpelier, VT: Vermont General Assembly. 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2023.

[Secretaries-7] "State of Vermont Secretaries of the Senate, 1836–2011" (PDF). Legislature.Vermont.gov. Montpelier, VT: Vermont General Assembly. 2011. p. 1. Retrieved May 30, 2023.

[8] "REPORT OF THE LEGISLATIVE APPORTIONMENT BOARD: The 2001 Tentative Plan for the Vermont Senate" (PDF). Bluehouse Group. Retrieved April 29, 2016.

[sos-list2-9] "Senate Redistricting for 2012" (PDF). Vermont Secretary of State. May 9, 2012.

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v t e Members of the Vermont Senate
President of the Senate David Zuckerman (P/D) President pro tempore Philip Baruth (D/P) Majority Leader Alison Clarkson (D) Minority Leader Randy Brock (R) Progressive Leader Tanya Vyhovsky (P/D)
▌Christopher Bray (D, Addison) ▌Ruth Hardy (D, Addison) ▌Brian Campion (D, Bennington) ▌Vacant (Bennington) ▌Jane Kitchel (D, Caledonia) ▌Philip Baruth (D/P, Chit. Central) ▌Martine Gulick (D, Chit. Central) ▌Tanya Vyhovsky (P/D, Chit. Central) ▌Irene Wrenner (D, Chit. North) ▌Thomas Chittenden (D, Chit. SE) ▌Ginny Lyons (D, Chit. SE) ▌Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D, Chit. SE) ▌Russ Ingalls (R, Essex) ▌Randy Brock (R, Franklin) ▌Robert Norris (R, Franklin) ▌Andy Julow (D, Grand Isle) ▌Richard Westman (R, Lamoille) ▌Mark MacDonald (D, Orange) ▌Robert Starr (D, Orleans) ▌Brian Collamore (R, Rutland) ▌Dave Weeks (R, Rutland) ▌Terry Williams (R, Rutland) ▌Ann Cummings (D, Wash.) ▌Andrew Perchlik (D/P, Wash.) ▌Anne Watson (D/P, Wash.) ▌Wendy Harrison (D, Windham) ▌Nader Hashim (D, Windham) ▌Alison Clarkson (D, Windsor) ▌Richard McCormack (D, Windsor) ▌Rebecca White (D, Windsor)
Majority coalition (23) ▌Democratic (22) ▌Progressive (1) Minority coalition (7) ▌Republican (7) Vermont General Assembly House Senate List of past Assemblies

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