Vt. Democrats Take Control of State House
By AP from the NYTimes on the Web, January 6, 2005
MONPELIER, Vt. Jan. 5 -- The Democrats triumphantly reclaimed control of the Vermont House on Wednesday, four years after they were swept from power in a backlash against the state's first-in-the-nation law creating civil unions for gay couples.
Lawmakers and political observers said Vermont's voters have become more comfortable with the notion of civil unions, which grant gay couples nearly all the rights and responsibilities of marriage.
They also said anger over an education funding law enacted three years before civil unions appears to have faded.
Longtime lobbyist Steve Kimbell, who represented advocates of civil unions, said the 2000 civil unions law and the education measure had upset the "natural balance of power" in the Legislature -- a solid Democratic majority in both the House and Senate.
"That backlash has worn off and we're back to the natural balance," he said.
This is the first time in 30 years that one party strongly controls both houses of the Legislature while the governor is from a different party.
Gov. James Douglas is a Republican.
The Democrats' first order of business Wednesday was electing Gaye Symington as House speaker, only the second woman in Vermont history to hold the most powerful post in the Legislature.
Two elections ago, in 2000, the Democrats went from 77 seats in the 150-member House to 62.
In November, they captured 83 seats. With their allies -- six Progressives and one independent -- they can easily control the agenda in the House.
The Democrats never lost control of the Senate in 2000, though their numbers slipped somewhat.
In November, they picked up two seats for a veto-proof 21-9 majority.
"As far as I could tell, civil unions was not an issue in Vermont in 2004, pro or con," said the Rev. Craig Bensen, who was an active opponent of civil unions in 2000 and unsuccessfully ran for the Senate as a Republican this time.
The Democrats now hope to tackle health care, energy and rural economic development.
Some advocates would like to see Vermont go further and adopt gay marriage, as neighboring Massachusetts has done.
But most lawmakers say they are unwilling to take on such a divisive issue again.
Symington, the new speaker, told her colleagues that her goal was to create unity in the new House.
"Power comes from working together," she said.
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