Krowinski and Baruth Seek to Retain Top Posts in House, Senate

Voters may have called for sweeping change in the Vermont Statehouse this past election, but Democratic lawmakers are seeking to preserve the status quo when it comes to their top leaders.

House Speaker Jill Krowinski (D-Burlington) and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth (D/P–Chittenden-Central) hope to continue running their respective chambers when a new biennium convenes on January 8.

Both would have to prevail in leadership votes that will be part of the new legislature’s first order of business.

In the House, Rep. Laura Sibilia (I-Dover), a well-regarded and experienced legislator, launched a rival bid for the speakership last fall — even before Republicans rode a wave of taxpayer outrage to make historic gains in both chambers in the November election. Their ranks swelled in the 30-member Senate from seven to 13, and in the 150-member House from 37 to 56.

Sibilia has pledged to be more “transparent, collaborative and communicative” with House members, the Senate and the press. She maintains that she can win if Republicans join the Democratic defectors, Progressives and independents backing her bid — and about a dozen undecided members come around.

Only 149 House members will be seated Wednesday. A Republican from Castleton, Chris Brown, said he won’t take the seat he won because his wife has been diagnosed with cancer. If all 55 Republicans were to back Sibilia, she would still need 20 additional members to vote for her.

“I have had great conversations with Republican members where we have acknowledged our areas of disagreement, but where we’ve pledged to work together to bring about the change that voters asked for and make Vermont better for everyone,” she wrote in an email.

Sibilia has pursued the post vigorously, even taking the unusual step of raising money to hire a chief of staff, former Democratic representative Lucy Rogers, who represented Waterville. She has expressed her willingness to publicly debate Krowinski, but efforts to set up such a forum, led by Rep. Jay Hooper (D-Randolph), came to nothing.

He proposed one for last month at the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph, but Krowinski was out of town. Hooper recently proposed a similar forum focused on property taxes in Montpelier on January 7, the day before the session starts. Krowinski said she would not take part in that because Hooper hadn’t included her or her office in his planning efforts.

“I will not be participating and I will be using that time to continue the conversations with members and staff as we prepare for the start of the session the next morning,” Krowinski said in a written statement.

Hooper said he’s frustrated that he hasn’t been able to allow some “sunlight” into what he views as an opaque process.

“I thought it would be easier than it has been to make happen,” he said on Friday.

So far, a handful of House Democrats have publicly backed Sibila. One is Rep. John O’Brien (D-Tunbridge), who argued last month that Democrats need new leadership.

“We’ve become the party that is synonymous with unaffordability,” he said, addressing his colleagues at a caucus.

In a statement, Krowinski said she has been talking to members of all parties about what worked for them and what didn’t in the last biennium.

“Based on the conversations I’ve had and continue to have, I am confident I have the votes necessary to be re-elected as Speaker,” she wrote.

House Republican leaders have yet to take a position on the race, said Rep. Casey Toof (R-St. Albans), the assistant minority leader. At least one prominent GOP member, Rep. Ashley Bartley (R-Fairfax), strongly backs Krowinski.

“Despite our differences, I believe Jill Krowinski will continue to navigate the complexities and personalities of our body with a commitment to honesty and collaboration,” Bartley wrote to colleagues last week.

The Senate’s leadership is also to be determined on January 8. Republicans’ strong showing at the polls in November convinced Sen. Randy Brock (R-Franklin) to try to wrest control of the Senate from Baruth.

“Well, nobody’s doing the job now, so I thought, There’s an opening,” Brock quipped on Friday. He acknowledged that convincing three Senate Democrats to back his bid would seem to be “a task that will take effort.”

“On the other hand, I know there are people in the majority party who are not particularly happy with the way that we’ve gone,” Brock said.

When Democrats held a supermajority during the last biennium, they regularly undermined Republican voices, he said. Only one committee was chaired by a Republican, he noted. The Committee on Natural Resources and Energy had no Republicans members last session.

Brock would seek to “ensure there is opportunity for full participation and contribution from every member, regardless their political affiliation,” he said. He also said he wants senators to have sufficient time to digest proposed changes in bills.

“The office needs to be able to manage the legislative process so that in the last week of the session we’re not dealing with critical bills that haven’t been adequately discussed and vetted by the committees,” he said.

Baruth could not be reached for comment on Friday. His chief of staff, Ashley Moore, said Baruth is “confident he has the votes to prevail” in the upcoming vote.

Senate Democrats did make some changes to their leadership team at their December caucus, replacing the majority leader, Sen. Alison Clarkson (D-Windsor), with Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden-Southeast).

But no Democrat challenged Baruth for the nomination to the top post. After vowing to make education spending and property tax reform the party’s top priority this session, he was renominated by the caucus.

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