Lawmakers this year established the six-member commission to consider the future of Act 250, the 47-year-old law that governs development.
The House speaker and the Senate Committee on Committees were each directed to appoint three members. Legislation specified that in both cases, the appointees were not to be all from the same party.
The Senate appointees were all elected as Democrats, Degree argued.
Sens. Brian Campion (D-Bennington), Dick McCormack (D-Windsor) and Chris Pearson (P/D-Chittenden) were appointed this summer. Degree said he just learned of the appointments this week.
Pearson is a Progressive who ran in the Democratic primary in 2016.
Degree acknowledged that Pearson carries both the Progressive and Democratic party labels, but said he technically represents the Democratic Party because he ran in its primary. No Progressive has been elected to the Senate without going through a Democratic primary.
Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman, one of three members of the Committee on Committees, said he considers Pearson primarily a Progressive, because that’s the party he chooses to list first. Therefore, Pearson’s appointment to the
Zuckerman said the three appointees all have experience serving on the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee and are well-versed in Act 250 issues. Republicans, including Degree, declined a chance to serve on that Senate committee this year, Zuckerman noted.
Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden), another member of the Committee on Committees, also argued that Pearson’s Progressive affiliation means the appointment is appropriate.
Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle), the third member of the Committee on Committees, said he’s fine with Pearson being considered a Progressive. He said if Degree wants to challenge the appointments, he should address the committee.
The House appointees meet the requirement that they be from more than one party. Speaker Mitzi Johnson (D-South Hero) said she chose Reps. David Deen (D-Westminster), Amy Sheldon (D-Middlebury) and Paul Lefebvre (R-Newark).
Related Stories
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Chris Person is clearly a Prog, not a Dem, so I don’t buy Degree’s argument. That said, there’s something to be said for appointing one Republican from each chamber of the legislature to this committee to make sure there is a true diversity of views represented.
One Republican? Yeah, that’s diversity!
And we wonder what is wrong in Montpelier…clearly the Democrat’s in Montpelier could care less about those voters who are not Democrat’s!
There is no doubt that Chris is a Prog, as anyone who talked to him during the 2016 primaries and election season could tell you. One might quibble and ask why the House did not also name a Prog. Those here who think there is parity between the Rs and Ds might want to look at the number of votes Prog candidates received in 2016, and understand that Progs are in fact nothing like Democrats in the main. From the formation of the party and its founding documents to its work over the years, the Progs have established an independent identity that is hard to argue with. If there’s an R on the committee, it’s only fair that there be a Prog too. One will pull from the right, while the other will pull from the left. Makes sense to me.