Vermont Senate

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Vermont Senate
Type
Type	Upper house
Leadership
President of the Senate	Brian Dubie, (R) since January 9, 2003
President pro Tempore	Peter Shumlin, (D) since January 3, 2007
Minority Leader	William T. Doyle, (R) since 2007
Structure
Members	30
Political groups	Democratic Party Republican Party Progressive Party
Election
Last election	November 4, 2008
Meeting place
Senate Chamber, Vermont State Capitol, Montpelier, VT, US
Web site
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/

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. 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. 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 Senate 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 Montpelier.

Contents 1 Districting and terms 2 Composition of the Senate 2.1 Leadership of the Senate 2.1.1 Current leadership 2.2 Members of the Senate, 2009-2010 3 Operations 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Districting and terms

Senators are elected from a total of 13 single and multi-member Senate districts. The districts more or less 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 as in the majority of states.

[edit] Composition of the Senate

2009-2010 Legislative Session

Affiliation	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)			Total
	Democratic	Progressive	Republican		Vacant
End of previous legislature	23	0	7	30	0
Begin	22	1	7	30	0
Latest voting share	68%		32%

[edit] 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.

The President of the Senate is Vermont Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie. The President Pro Tempore is Democrat Peter Shumlin of the Windham Vermont Senate District. The Majority Leader is Democrat John F. Campbell, of the Windsor Vermont Senate District. The Minority Leader is Republican William T. Doyle of the Washington Vermont Senate District.

[edit] Current leadership

Position	Name	Party	Residence	District
President of the Senate/Lieutenant Governor	Brian Dubie	Republican	Essex
President pro tempore	Peter Shumlin	Democratic	Putney	Windham
Majority Leader	John F. Campbell	Democratic	Quechee	Windsor
Assistant Majority Leader	Claire Ayer	Democratic	Weybridge	Addison
Minority Leader	William T. Doyle	Republican	Montpelier	Washington
Assistant Minority Leader	Kevin Mullin	Republican	Rutland Town	Rutland

[edit] Members of the Senate, 2009-2010

District	Representative	Party	Residence
Addison	Claire Ayer	Democratic	Weybridge
	Harold Giard	Democratic	Bridport
Bennington	Robert Hartwell	Democratic	Manchester Center
	Richard Sears	Democratic	North Bennington
Caledonia	Matthew Choate	Democratic	St. Johnsbury
	M. Jane Kitchel	Democratic	Danville
Chittenden	Tim Ashe	Progressive	Burlington
	Ed Flanagan	Democratic	Burlington
	Ginny Lyons	Democratic	Williston
	Hinda Miller	Democratic	Burlington
	Douglas Racine	Democratic	Richmond
	Diane Snelling	Republican	Hinesburg
Essex-Orleans	Vincent Illuzzi	Republican	Newport
	Robert Starr	Democratic	North Troy
Franklin	Randy Brock	Republican	St. Albans
	Sarah Brannon Kittell	Democratic	Fairfield
Grand Isle	Richard Mazza	Democratic	Colchester
Lamoille	Susan Bartlett	Democratic	Hyde Park
Orange	Mark MacDonald	Democratic	Williamstown
Rutland	Bill Carris	Democratic	Rutland
	Hull Maynard	Republican	Shrewsbury
	Kevin Mullin	Republican	Rutland
Washington	Ann Cummings	Democratic	Montpelier
	William T. Doyle	Republican	Montpelier
	Phillip Scott	Republican	Montpelier
Windham	Peter Shumlin	Democratic	Putney
	Jeanette White	Democratic	Putney
Windsor	John F. Campbell	Democratic	Quechee
	Richard McCormack	Democratic	Bethel
	Alice Nikita	Democratic	Ludlow

[edit] Operations

The full Senate meets Tuesday and Friday mornings only for the first seven weeks of the annual session.^[1]

[edit] See also

• Vermont State House
• Vermont General Assembly
• Vermont House of Representatives
• Members of the Vermont Senate, 2005-2006 session
• Members of the Vermont Senate, 2007-2008 session
• Vermont Senate Districts, 2002-2012

[edit] References

1. ^ Remsen, Nancy and Hallenbeck, Teri (January 8, 2009). Following the Legislature. Burlington Free Press. 

[edit] External links

• Vermont General Assembly
• Project Vote Smart - State Senate of Vermont

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