Sen. Chris Mattos, R-Chittenden North, center, speaks with Sen. Andrew Perchlik, D/P-Washington, at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Thursday, Jan. 9. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerNine of the Vermont Senate’s 11 standing committees will have new leaders this biennium and three will be helmed by Republicans, Lt. Gov. John Rodgers announced from the Senate floor Thursday afternoon.The committee overhaul follows the retirement, death or defeat of a considerable number of veteran chairs last year — and after Republicans picked up six seats in the 30-member body in November’s election. Democrats and Progressives now hold 17 seats, while Republicans control 13.Unlike the Vermont House, where committee positions are chosen unilaterally by the speaker, Senate assignments are doled out by a three-member panel, the Committee on Committees, which this year includes two new participants: Rodgers, a Republican, and Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, returned to the committee. The trio had few experienced senators from which to choose, given that — as Baruth noted in his opening remarks to the chamber Wednesday — nearly two-thirds of the Senate’s members joined the body over the past two years. Illustrating the point, newly sworn-in Sen. Seth Bongartz, D-Bennington, was tapped to chair the Senate Education Committee. (Bongartz had previously served in the House since 2021 — and had tours of duty in both the House and Senate in the 1980s.)Perhaps the most significant appointment went to Sen. Andrew Perchlik, D/P-Washington, who will chair the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee. He succeeds Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, who retired after leading the budget-writing panel for 14 years.  Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham, will helm the Senate Judiciary Committee, following the death last June of veteran Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington. The Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee will be led by Sen. Anne Watson, D/P-Washington. Its former chair, Sen. Chris Bray, D-Addison, was defeated in November. READ MORE Republicans flip six seats in the Vermont Senate, shattering Democratic supermajority by Ethan Weinstein November 5, 2024, 9:14 pmNovember 6, 2024, 7:57 am Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, takes over the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee from Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, D-Chittenden Southeast. Ram Hinsdale defeated Clarkson for the role of Senate majority leader in November, requiring the former to step down from her committee leadership position and allowing the latter to step up. The three Republicans chairing panels are Sen. Richard Westman, R-Lamoille, who will run the Senate Transportation Committee; Sen. Russ Ingalls, R-Essex, who will head the Senate Agriculture Committee; and Sen. Brian Collamore, R-Rutland, who will lead the Senate Government Operations Committee. (Republicans similarly made gains in House leadership positions this year.)Sen. Wendy Harrison, D-Windham, takes over the Senate Institutions Committee from Ingalls, who chaired it last biennium. The sole returning chairs are Lyons, who will continue to lead the Senate Health & Welfare Committee, and Sen. Ann Cummings, D-Washington, who will retain control of the Senate Finance Committee. Speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon, Baruth said the Committee on Committees had intentionally sought partisan equilibrium on certain panels. The Senate Education Committee, for example, which is expected to engage in heavy lifting as lawmakers reconsider the state’s education funding scheme, includes three Democrats and three Republicans. For a bill to clear that panel, four members would have to approve.“What I intended for that committee… to do is to put out bipartisan bills,” Baruth said of Senate Ed. Similarly, Baruth called the composition of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee “very centrist,” with four Democrats and three Republicans. “They’re going to have a lot of work to do, hard work, but the one thing I want them to think — to think long and hard about — is any kind of raising taxes or fees,” Baruth said. “The only time I’m looking to do that, if it’s necessary, is if it brings down the property tax.”Ethan Weinstein contributed reporting.Read the story on VTDigger here: Committee leadership in the Vermont Senate sees major overhaul.