Vermont Senate

Vermont State Senate
Vermont General Assembly

Type
Type	Upper house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 5, 2015
Leadership
Lieutenant Governor	Phil Scott (R) Since January 6, 2011
President Pro Tempore	John Campbell (D) Since January 5, 2011
Majority Leader	Phil Baruth (D) Since January 1, 2013
Minority Leader	Joe Benning (R) Since January 1, 2015
Progressive Leader	Anthony Pollina (P) Since January 6, 2010
Structure
Seats	30

Political groups	Majority Democratic (18) Progressive (3) Minority Republican (9)
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Section 7, Legislative Department, Vermont Constitution
Salary	$30,528/year+ per diem
Elections
Last election	November 4, 2014 (30 seats)
Next election	November 1, 2016 (30 seats)
Redistricting	Legislative Control
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber, Vermont State Capitol Montpelier, Vermont, U.S.
Website
Vermont State Senate

The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-member districts, three three-member districts, and one six-member district. 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 federal U.S. Senate, the state senate of Vermont is reserved with special functions such as confirming or rejecting gubernatorial appointments to executive departments, the state cabinet, commissions, boards, and electing members to the Vermont Supreme Court.

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

History

Vermont had a unicameral legislature until 1836. It added a senate by constitutional amendment.^[1]

Districting and terms

Senators are elected from a total of 13 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. Two small counties (Essex and Orleans) are combined into one district. Each district elects between 1 and 6 senators depending on population.

In addition, 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.

Composition of the senate (2015-2016 legislative session)

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total

	Democratic	Progressive	Republican		Vacant	Suspended
End of previous legislature	20	2	8	30	0	0

Begin 2013	19	3	7	29	1	0
End 2014	20	3	7	30	0	0

Begin 2015	18	3	9	30	0	0
January 6, 2016^[2]	18	3	8	29	0	1

Latest voting share	7001724000000000000♠72.4%	7001276000000000000♠27.6%

Leadership of the senate

The Lieutenant Governor of Vermont serves as the President of the Senate, but only casts a legislative vote if required to break a tie. In his or her absence, the President Pro Tempore presides over the senate. The President Pro Tempore is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the entire senate through a Senate Resolution. The President Pro Tempore is the chief leadership position in the senate. The other senate majority and minority leaders are elected by their respective party caucuses.

Committee assignments are determined by the Committee on Committees. This group consists of the Lieutenant Governor, the Senate President Pro Tem and one member chosen by the full senate. For several years the third member of the committee has been Richard Mazza.

Current leadership

Position	Name	Party	Residence	District
Lieutenant Governor	Phil Scott	Rep	Berlin
President Pro Tem of the Senate	John Campbell	Dem	Quechee	Windsor
Majority Leader	Phil Baruth	Dem	Burlington	Chittenden
Assistant Majority Leader	Claire Ayer	Dem	Weybridge	Addison
Minority Leader	Joe Benning	Rep	St. Johnsbury	Caledonia/Orange
Assistant Minority Leader	Kevin Mullin	Rep	Rutland Town	Rutland
Progressive Leader	Anthony Pollina	Prog	Middlesex	Washington

Current members of the senate

District	Representative	Party	Residence	First elected
Addison	Claire Ayer	Dem	Weybridge	2002
Addison	Christopher A. Bray	Dem	New Haven	2012
Bennington	Brian Campion	Dem	Bennington	2014
Bennington	Richard Sears	Dem	North Bennington	1992
Caledonia	Joe Benning	Rep	St. Johnsbury	2010
Caledonia	Jane Kitchel	Dem	Danville	2004
Chittenden	Tim Ashe	Dem/Prog	Burlington	2008
	Phil Baruth	Dem	Burlington	2010
	Ginny Lyons	Dem	Williston	2000
	Michael Sirotkin	Dem	South Burlington	2014†
	Helen Riehle	Rep	South Burlington	2016†
	David Zuckerman	Prog/Dem	Hinesburg	2012
Essex-Orleans	John S. Rodgers	Dem	Glover	2012
Essex-Orleans	Robert Starr	Dem	North Troy	2004
Alburgh-Franklin	Norman H. McAllister (suspended^[3])	Rep	Highgate	2012
Alburgh-Franklin	Dustin Degree	Rep	St. Albans City	2014
Colchester-Grand Isle	Richard Mazza	Dem	Colchester	1984
Lamoille	Rich Westman	Rep	Hyde Park	2010
Orange	Mark MacDonald	Dem	Williamstown	2003 (previous term 1997-1999)
Rutland	Brian Collamore	Rep	Rutland Town	2014
	Peg Flory	Rep	Pittsford	2010
	Kevin Mullin	Rep	Rutland Town	2003
Washington	Ann Cummings	Dem	Montpelier	1996
	William T. Doyle	Rep	Montpelier	1968
	Anthony Pollina	Prog/Dem	Middlesex	2010
Windham	Becca Balint	Dem	Brattleboro	2014
Windham	Jeanette White	Dem	Putney	2002
Windsor	John F. Campbell	Dem	Quechee	2000
	Richard McCormack	Dem	Bethel	2006 (previous terms from 1989-2003)
	Alice Nitka	Dem	Ludlow	2006

†Originally appointed

Operations

The full senate meets Tuesday and Friday mornings only for the first seven weeks of the annual session.^[4]

References

↑ "REPORT OF THE LEGISLATIVE APPORTIONMENT BOARD: The 2001 Tentative Plan for the Vermont Senate" (PDF). Bluehouse Group. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
↑ Republican Norman H. McAllister (Alburgh-Franklin) suspended.
↑ Johnson, Mark (March 18, 2016). "Senate rejects request to reconsider suspension". Vermont Journalism Trust. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
↑ Remsen, Nancy & Hallenbeck, Teri (January 8, 2009). Following the Legislature. Burlington Free Press.

External links

Members of the Vermont State Senate

President of the Senate: Phil Scott (R) President pro Tempore: John F. Campbell (D) Majority Leader: Philip Baruth (D) Minority Leader: Joe Benning (R)

Claire D. Ayer (D, Addison) Christopher A. Bray (D, Addison) Brian Campion (D, Bennington) Richard W. Sears (D, Bennington) Joe Benning (R, Caledonia) M. Jane Kitchel (D, Caledonia) Tim Ashe (P, Chittenden) Michael Sirotkin (D, Chittenden) Virginia V. Lyons (D, Chittenden) David Zuckerman (P, Chittenden) Philip Baruth (D, Chittenden) Diane B. Snelling (R, Chittenden) John S. Rodgers (D, Essex-Orleans) Robert A. Starr (D, Essex-Orleans) Norm McAllister (R, Franklin) Dustin Degree (R, Franklin) Richard Mazza (D, Grand Isle) Rich Westman (R, Lamoille) Mark MacDonald (D, Orange) Brian Collamore (R, Rutland) Peg Flory (R, Rutland) Kevin Mullin (R, Rutland) Ann Cummings (D, Washington) William T. Doyle (R, Washington) Anthony Pollina (P, Washington) Becca Balint (D, Windham) Jeanette White (D, Windham) John F. Campbell (D, Windsor) Richard McCormack (D, Windsor) Alice Nitka (D, Windsor)

Democratic (18) Republican (9) Progressive (3) Vermont General Assembly Vermont House of Representatives Vermont State Senate

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United States Congress	United States House of Representatives United States Senate

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Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 143039886 LCCN: n50075721 GND: 131364-2

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