Subject: A Speaker for 150 Members (survey enclosed)

Dear Members,

Thank you for the conversations and guidance you’ve shared with me in recent weeks. The trust and honesty you’ve shown in our discussions confirm that the Vermont House is filled with talented, thoughtful leaders ready to tackle the pressing issues Vermonters face.

In this letter you will find a survey from my team asking about your skills and experiences and committee preferences. Providing this information to both the current Speaker and to me will help ensure that whoever wins the election is ready to best utilize your skills to collectively deliver for Vermonters, and get us to work on Day One. 

I also want to answer an important question. Many of you have asked how I would govern the House if elected Speaker. My answer is rooted in the guiding principles of our legislative rules and the power afforded to every House member. The House is governed by majority rule of all members, not by the Speaker alone. It only takes 76 votes—across parties and perspectives—for members to bring a bill to the floor, send it back to committee or override the Speaker’s ruling. That collective power has always been yours, and as Speaker, I will work to ensure it’s respected and understood by all. 

With an independent Speaker, the parties will continue to play strong roles. The majority party maintains the ability to bring bills to the floor for a vote, send bills back to committee, and pass or reject any bill when acting together in concert. As Speaker, it will also be centrally important to me that we all learn from insights of members from the minority parties and welcome their experience, talent, perspectives and voices in policy conversations.

It’s also clear from our conversations that our shared focus must remain on delivering real progress for Vermonters on affordability, housing, education, property taxes, and stabilizing the healthcare system.

To achieve this, my approach will include:

• Inclusive Governance: As an independent, my role as Speaker will not be to advance an agenda but to facilitate fair debate, collaboration, and results with your respective caucuses. Many of you have shared remembrances of this happening with greater frequency under other Speakers. Your input will shape our work, and I will ensure that all voices are heard, respected and represented.
  
• Strong Committees: Committees are the backbone of our work. I will ensure that every committee is led by qualified members with demonstrated leadership experience, as many of our current chairs already exhibit, and that assignments reflect members’ expertise and interests and a range of political perspectives. This will provide for focused, effective work and encourage bipartisan collaboration.
  
• Building Cohesive Leadership: I will work closely with each caucus’ leaders, whose roles and voices are essential to best represent the diverse viewpoints in our chamber. Together, we will ensure that the concerns and priorities of all members are brought into our legislative process.
  
• Clear and Predictable Communication: I will ensure regular, ongoing communication with all members and with Vermonters. Regular press conferences with committee chairs will keep the public informed about our progress and demonstrate our shared and intentional commitment to transparency.
  
• Transparency in Committee Vacancies: When legislative vacancies arise on special panels or joint committees, I will solicit interest from all members and fill vacancies based on relevant experience and to ensure political balance. Every member should have a fair opportunity to serve where their expertise can make the greatest impact.
  

To further support this effort, I’ve been asking many of you in our one-on-one conversations to share your committee preferences and issue priorities for the upcoming session. You will note there are some changes to the existing committees in order to build more effective and responsible legislative structures. Even if we’ve spoken about this previously, please use the following link to share your priorities.

Finally, I want to emphasize the importance of protecting the anonymity of members from all parties who choose to support my candidacy for Speaker. To that end, I urge all caucuses to conduct secret ballots when and if they nominate candidates for Speaker, regardless of the number of candidates, to ensure members can vote their conscience without outside pressure. I also urge party leaders to respect that some members may choose to keep their vote private as is normal and customary in secret ballot elections.

This is a pivotal moment for the Vermont House. By electing leadership committed to results and collaboration, we can restore trust in our institution and deliver for Vermonters. I am confident that together, we can meet the challenges ahead and deliver meaningful progress for the people of our state, and I ask for your vote to elect me as Speaker of the House. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or concerns or would like to discuss your priorities.

Best wishes for the holiday –  in partnership,
Rep. Laura Sibilia
Independent Candidate for Speaker of the House
(802) 384-0233
lhsibilia@gmail.com