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Sibilia finds victory in defeat for House speaker

The independent state representative from Dover says she has succeeded in pushing forward several important policy changes

DOVER-Even though she lost her courageous challenge to become speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives for the new biennium, Rep. Laura Sibilia, I-Dover, says she is glad she ran.

"It really was necessary," Sibilia said. "It was clear to us that the situation on the ground was such that something had to change. And I absolutely am certain that, as a result of me running, I already see changes that are happening. And I'm happy for that."

In a closed ballot on the first day of the new biennium, incumbent Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, won by 111 votes to Sibilia's 35.

This was not quite a quixotic campaign for Sibilia, who raised approximately $10,000 for her campaign, hired a campaign manager, and spent the summer campaigning and garnering a significant amount of support.

And, after the 2024 election cost some Democrats their seats, she engaged in some backroom negotiations with victorious Republicans over the number of chair and vice chair seats she would give them if they voted for her as speaker.

A stressful biennium

The past biennium was extremely stressful, and Sibilia believed things needed to change.

"I had hoped that a member of the Democratic Party would run," Sibilia said. "The last biennium was the most difficult biennium of the five that I had served in. I would say that morale was really low. Frustration was really high. A lot of members felt disconnected from the process. We were not sure where we were going. There was a lot of blaming going on.

"And that was surprising to me, given that there was such a lopsided majority in the House and the Senate. And I certainly was frustrated with the governor on a number of different things."

The frustration Sibilia saw in the House was not necessarily from the Windham County delegation.

"The folks that I was hearing from were folks from around the state, a lot of Democrats from rural areas, newer members who felt like they really just did not understand how things were going and how to engage, how to actually be a part of the process, because they weren't really clear where the process was taking place," Sibilia said.

Krowinski did not appear to respond to these problems, Sibilia said.

"I tried to maintain a good working relationship with whoever was in leadership in the House," Sibilia said. "As an independent, I don't have party leadership, so it's up to me to communicate directly with the leadership of the House. And I do."

She described herself as "someone who is not afraid to speak up on the floor if I have concerns."

"And I also feel like it's appropriate to let the speaker know if there's something that I'm worried about or, or feel particularly strong about, or if I think we're going in the wrong direction," she added.

In the end, Sibilia decided to challenge the current speaker.

Sibilia said she was encouraged by the number of people who supported her. Former Rep. Josie Leavitt, D–Grand Isle, who lost her own bid for re-election, wrote in VTDigger that she was sorry she would not be around to vote for Sibilia.

"I want a speaker who is passionate and shows it," Leavitt wrote. "I want a speaker who inspires. My work with Laura has shown me she is these things, which is why I had pledged my support to her in October."

Leavitt said that because Sibilia was an independent, she would not be "beholden to party politics" and could run the statehouse "based on what is best for all Vermonters."

She also said she supported Sibilia because she represented a rural district and understands its problems.

"Being a rural representative matters greatly to me," Leavitt said. "Too often it seems Democratic leadership is based in Vermont's population centers."

Rep. Elizabeth Burrows, D/P-West Windsor, said a vote for Sibilia was a vote for "transparency, communication, and inclusion."

"We have some strong voices in the House," Burrows said. "We also have voices that must be heard but have not been."

At one point, Sibilia claimed to have 21 Democrats, Progressives, and independents supporting her and predicted that she would win if all 56 Republicans did so, too.

In the end, the Republicans did not.

The clean heat standard

Some journalists reported that Republicans shunned Sibilia because she strongly supports a clean heat standard. Republicans, especially Gov. Phil Scott, have denounced it as being too costly to Vermont taxpayers. They did so even before a clean heat standard has been written by the Public Utilities Commission and voted into law by the Legislature.

The clean heat standard is a mechanism designed to help Vermonters slow global climate change.

"The clean heat standard would reduce the use of fossil fuels in home heating by asking companies that import heating fuels to help their customers transition to greener heating technologies," according to the Vermont Department of Public Service. "If those companies can't or won't engage in that work, then they'd have to buy clean heat credits from the state."

Sibilia denies that her support for a clean heat standard cost her the speaker's race.

"The Republican leadership asked me what my stance was on the clean heat standard," Sibilia said "And the reality of the situation is, that with the dynamic in the House, there's absolutely no way to move forward on it. I've been following that policy. I advocated for that policy. I believe we have to take action to stabilize heating prices for Vermonters in an energy transition."

Sibilia has spent a lot of time studying this issue. She said there was a lot of misinformation going around.

"As I was trying to decide if I was running for speaker, and working my year-round job, I was also following along with the materials that were coming out of the Department of Public Service and the Public Utilities Commission," said Sibilia, the director of regional economic development strategies and programs for the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation.

"And it was clear to me what was coming out was not going to be workable in terms of dollars," she added. "The inputs that we had given them to work with were not canceling out. And Big Oil–funded campaigns came through the state of Vermont."

Last April, Sibilia said she had asked Krowinski to "tell Vermonters about all the work that we were going to be doing in hearings through the summer and fall, and to schedule regular press conferences about what we were learning, and to tell Vermonters what we were going to be doing with that information."

"That was not something that happened, which I think was not helpful to Vermonters or to a lot of people in rural Vermont," she said. "So the only information that was going out was misinformation. And that's unfortunate."

Sibilia said her biggest disagreements with the governor have been over climate change issues.

"The communications that have come out of the administration have bordered on untruthful, which is not something that I can accept," she said. "I definitely will challenge it when we are giving Vermonters information that is not truthful. So, you know, I've been outspoken about things that I felt were not truthful, and I don't regret that. I think that's my job."

Backroom negotiations

After the 2024 election, with the Republicans picking up 18 new seats in the 150-member chamber, the power dynamics in the House dramatically changed. (The Republicans will hold 55 seats, enough to prevent Democrats and Progressives, who will hold 92 seats together, from overriding Scott's vetoes.)

That shift created a certain amount of backroom trading over the speakership. Sibilia had to negotiate with the Republicans, who were operating, she said, as a bloc.

"The current speaker also had to negotiate with the Republicans," Sibilia said. "We were trying to get some transparency. You could talk to the Republicans, and we did. We asked them how they were thinking about the [speakership] decision, and they said, 'We're listening. We're just listening.' And they just would not tell you which way they were leaning. They were going to be voting as a bloc. And if that bloc voted for us, I would be elected speaker."

The speaker appoints the chairs and vice chairs for the committees. Sibilia said it appears the Republicans' collective decision came down to proposals for how many chairs and vice chairs the party would get from either candidate if they were elected.

"At the end of the day, we gave the first proposal," Sibilia said. "We gave Republicans four. Somehow, the current speaker and I ended up putting in exactly the same proposal, which I found to be curious. Then we went and met with the Republican leadership in Rutland on New Year's Day and said, 'What do we need to do? Where's the goal that we need to get to, to have your support?'

"But I didn't feel like wheeling and dealing for votes. I was not going to put people in leadership positions that had not had leadership experience or that did not have jurisdictional experience for the committees. But there are people in the Republican caucus who do have leadership experience and who do have jurisdictional experience. And at the end of the day, the Democrats are still running the House, because it's still majority rule."

Sibilia's campaign was asked to improve their proposal.

"This was challenging because we had gotten no feedback on our first proposal," Sibilia said. "And we were not really given a bar to hit, so I wasn't sure, actually, that I would submit another proposal."

Thinking of her supporters, Sibilia said she wanted to find a way forward that would be best for everyone.

"So in the end, I did end up submitting a different proposal," Sibilia said. "I sent it to all of the Republicans on the day that they were caucusing, and I sent the revised numbers on chairs and vice chairs to the leadership five minutes before the caucus met. And you know, we heard from folks that we had submitted a better proposal than the current speaker."

The day after the caucus, Sibilia said the Burlington Free Press reported that the current speaker and the governor had met and resolved issues. A few weeks before, the governor had ignored Sibilia's request for a meeting.

What hand the governor had in his party supporting Krowinski is not widely known.

"But we will be seeing fewer [Republican] chairs and vice chairs than I had proposed," Sibilia said. "I'm not sure what else was included as a part of that negotiation, but that's where we are."

She said that House Minority Leader Patricia McCoy, R-Poultney, reported that she and Krowinski had met, "and there was an agreement about how they would work differently going forward."

Sibilia will now sit on the newly created Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee, which will take up legislation related to "energy, utilities, telecommunications, broadband, information technology, cybersecurity, and other similar policies," according to a resolution the House approved on Jan. 8.

Other issues Sibilia is passionate about: revamping the way Vermont delivers education, including a full staffing of the Agency of Education; exploring the possibility of eliminating supervisory districts, so there might be just one in Windham County, and keeping a lid on property taxes.

She also wants to protect the affordability of the health care system. "The health insurance rates are impacting everything," said Sibilia.

With so many issues facing the state, "we are not moving quickly enough," said Sibilia, who believes things will be different because of her failed campaign.

"I think it is very clear there are a lot of folks who showed a lot of courage in supporting me," Sibilia said. "That is so important.

"And I think the Democrats know that those people are still there. They are on notice. If things are not working, there is a group of folks who are going to stand up."


This News item by Joyce Marcel was written for The Commons.

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