Week 1 - January 8, 2021
WORLDS APART
The Vermont General Assembly convened this week for the 2021-2022 legislative biennium. Newly elected and returning lawmakers and statewide officials were sworn in remotely or in socially distanced ceremonies at the capitol. Republican Governor Phil Scott issued his inaugural address to a televised audience from the executive office building instead of giving the traditional speech in the House chamber. These unusual commencement events are the result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
History was made when Representative Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, and Senator Becca Balint, D-Windham, were elected House Speaker and Senate President Pro Tem respectively. Along with the swearing in of Democratic Lieutenant Governor Molly Gray this marks the first time in Vermont history that both chambers of the General Assembly are led by women.
Scott begins term asking lawmakers to help heal
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott takes the Oath of Office on on the steps of the Vermont Statehouse on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021 Montpelier, Vt. Scott, a Republican, is beginning his third two-year term. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott stands on the steps of the Vermont Statehouse during a ceremony where he took the Oath of Office on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021 Montpelier, Vt. Scott, a Republican, is beginning his third two-year term. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)
Vermont Lt. Gov. Molly Gray stands on the Statehouse steps on Thursday Jan. 7, 2021, in Montpelier, Vt., during a ceremony for the inauguration of Gov. Phil Scott and other statewide office holders. Gray, a Democrat, took the oath earlier Thursday during a ceremony in the Statehouse s Senate chamber. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)