Majority Leader Picks In House And Senate Put Health Care And Housing Into Focus

Montpelier, VT — Representative Lori Houghton (D-Essex Junction) was elected House Majority Leader yesterday, joining Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden County), who was selected to be Senate Majority Leader in late November. Both are coming out of critical committee chair roles to lead their respective caucuses, a first in at least two decades.

Houghton originally ran for the House to advocate for policies that would benefit our children, the future of Vermont. While at the helm of the House Health Care Committee, she focused on policies to help our overburdened providers, suicide prevention and mental health access. “Our Vermont health care system is at a tipping point with unsustainable increases in the cost of health insurance in a system that is struggling with patient access. If we want Vermonters, especially our youth, to stay in Vermont, we need a focused effort by all parties on transforming our system,” said Houghton. 

Ram Hinsdale has taught environmental and social policy at Vermont Law and Graduate School, and took on Vermont’s housing crisis last biennium as Chair of Senate Economic Development. Both women have sought to address the root causes of Vermont’s increased cost of living.

“At the root of most of our affordability concerns are soaring health care costs and declining demographics, which will only be solved through increasing our housing stock,” said Ram Hinsdale. “I look forward to working with Leader Houghton on addressing the dual housing and health care crises we face in Vermont.”

Ram Hinsdale noted that there had not been a committee chair to transition to Majority Leader in at least two decades. “Since I began serving in 2009, I have not seen anyone in either body go from chair to leader, as their expertise is often needed on a specific policy agenda. But this speaks to the unique challenges we face and the unprecedented moment we’re in where Vermonters want to hear how we’re going to address interconnected questions of affordability and quality of life.”

When legislators return to Montpelier in January, Ram Hinsdale and Houghton join the call for concrete proposals from the Governor that address health care, housing, and the unsustainable rise in property taxes.

CONTACT: 

Erin Stoetzner, VT Senate Democratic Caucus Director

EMAIL: estoetzner@vtdemocrats.org 

Liam O’Sullivan, VT House Campaign Director 

EMAIL: losullivan@vtdemocrats.org