Mulvaney-Stanak Resigns From State Legislature

Vermont Rep. Emma Mulvaney-Stanak (P/D-Burlington) has resigned from the state legislature effective Monday, April 1, the same day she’ll be sworn in as Burlington’s next mayor.

Mulvaney-Stanak had been weighing when to step down from her Statehouse seat, knowing that later this spring, Republican Gov. Phil Scott will likely veto a bill that would allow overdose-prevention centers to open in Vermont. The mayor-elect, who cosponsored the bill, worried that the Democrat-controlled House may not have the votes to override Scott’s veto, even with support from Progressives.

On Friday, Mulvaney-Stanak told Seven Days that she’d become more confident the House will have the margin to defeat the veto — though she was less certain about the Senate. As mayor, she said she’ll be well positioned to influence the vote. The measure, H.72, is now in a Senate committee.

House Clerk BetsyAnn Wrask read Mulvaney-Stanak’s resignation letter into the record when the body convened on Friday morning. Mulvaney-Stanak was at Burlington’s City Hall, where she’d joined outgoing Mayor Miro Weinberger in raising a Pride flag to celebrate International Transgender Day of Visibility.

Mulvaney-Stanak, the first openly queer person and woman to be elected Burlington’s mayor, plans to issue a proclamation next week recognizing the day, which falls on March 31 annually. On Monday, she’ll announce her staff and deliver the State of the City address.

Earlier this week, Mulvaney-Stanak attended the city’s monthly Community Stat meeting, a data-sharing initiative that tracks the city’s response to the drug crisis. Several of the attendees, including Weinberger, reiterated their support for overdose-prevention centers.

H.72 would allocate $2 million to open two of the centers, at which people could use drugs under supervision and be revived from possible overdose. Medically-trained professionals would provide people with sterile supplies and distribute naloxone, an overdose-reversal drug. The centers’ operators and the people who use them would be shielded from arrest and prosecution, according to the bill.

On the campaign trail, Mulvaney-Stanak expressed support for opening an overdose-prevention center in Burlington. Gov. Scott, meantime, has long opposed the facilities and in 2022, vetoed a bill that would have simply studied them.

Jason Maulucci, Scott’s spokesperson, told Seven Days earlier this month that the governor is already contemplating a veto of the bill but would see how it “winds up” after the Senate’s review. He also disputed Mulvaney-Stanak’s contention that Scott wouldn’t appoint someone to replace her in time to override a possible veto, which could happen any time between April and June.

The governor traditionally appoints a replacement from the departing member’s political party; Maulucci has said Scott will do the same for Mulvaney-Stanak’s Chittenden-17 seat — and in a timely manner.

In her resignation letter, Mulvaney-Stanak called her Statehouse service “one of my proudest moments.” She thanked her House colleagues, including those she served with on the tripartisan House Commerce and Economic Development Committee.

She ended her remarks on a political note, making one last plug for increasing legislators’ pay — an issue she was vocal about during her time in Montpelier. The position’s “low salary and lack of benefits” made serving a challenge, Mulvaney-Stanak wrote.

“I look forward to a day where this incredible job becomes more accessible to working people and Vermonters with small children,” her resignation letter says. “Our legislature will be a stronger, healthier and more representative body for all Vermonters if we fairly compensate legislators and adopt rules that reflect modern times.”

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