President pro tempore of the Vermont Senate

In addition to presiding in the absence of the lieutenant governor, the president pro tempore is third in the gubernatorial line of succession, following the lieutenant governor and speaker of the House of Representatives.{{cite web|url=http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/const2.htm|title=Constitution of the State of Vermont|work=Vermont General Assembly|access-date=August 23, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/03/001/00001|title=3 V.S.A. § 1 — Vacancy, absence from State|work=Vermont General Assembly|access-date=August 23, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/20/007/00183|title=20 V.S.A. § 183 — Additional successor to office of governor|work=Vermont General Assembly|access-date=August 23, 2019}}

The Senate president pro tempore also serves as a member of the Senate's Committee on Committees.{{sfn|The Vermont Encyclopedia|pages=17-18}} The Committee on Committees, made up of the lieutenant governor, president of the Senate, and a state senator chosen by his or her peers, is responsible for making committee assignments and designating committee chairpersons, vice chairpersons and clerks.{{sfn|The Vermont Encyclopedia|pages=17-18}}

The Senate president is Senator Philip Baruth of Chittenden County, who took office on January 4, 2023.{{cite news |last=Bradley |first=Pat |date=January 3, 2023 |title=Vermont Legislature set to begin its session Wednesday with a Democratic supermajority |url=https://www.wamc.org/news/2023-01-03/vermont-legislature-set-to-begin-its-session-wednesday-with-a-democratic-supermajority |work=WAMC Radio |location=Albany, NY}}

U.S. Senator Peter Welch served as Senate President from 1985 to 1989 and 2003 to 2007, and was the first Democrat to hold the post.{{sfn|"List of Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont Senate"}} Peter Shumlin, Governor from 2011 to 2017, was President pro tempore from 1997 to 2003 and 2007 to 2011.{{sfn|"List of Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont Senate"}} Becca Balint, Vermont's at-large member of the U.S. House since 2023, served as Senate President from 2021 to 2023.{{cite news |last=Mearhoff |first=Sarah |date=November 8, 2022 |title=Becca Balint becomes 1st woman to represent Vermont in Congress |url=https://vtdigger.org/2022/11/08/becca-balint-leads-liam-madden-in-vermonts-us-house-race/ |work=VT Digger |location=Montpelier, VT}}

In the early days of the Vermont Senate, when the legislature met for a relatively short time each year, the lieutenant governor was usually present to preside over regular Senate sessions, and temporary presidents would be chosen on an as-needed basis for periods as short as one day, or even just the morning or afternoon session of one day.{{sfn|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1836)|page=10}} By the 1870s, the position had evolved to the point where a permanent president pro tempore was chosen immediately after the convening of each new legislature.{{sfn|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1873)|page=4}}

From the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s until the 1960s, only Republicans won statewide offices, and Republicans also controlled both the Vermont Senate and Vermont House of Representatives.{{sfn|Political Encyclopedia of U.S. States and Regions|page=133}} As part of the party's Mountain Rule, the post of Senate President, along with that of House Speaker, were used to groom future governors and lieutenant governors.{{sfn|American Legislative Leaders in the West, 1911-1994|page=33}} Including Shumlin, nine governors have served as Senate President (Eaton, Coolidge, Hendee, Redfield Proctor, McCullough, Prouty, Wills, Mortimer Proctor, Emerson, and Shumlin), as have six lieutenant governors who did not attain the governorship (Dale, Hinckley, Bates, Farnsworth, Babcock and Racine).{{sfn|"List of Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont Senate"}}

The president pro tempore of the Vermont Senate earned $10,080 in annual compensation as of 2005.{{sfn|"Salaries and Fees"}} Starting in 2007, the salary receives an annual cost of living adjustment.{{sfn|"Salaries and Fees"}}

• List of Vermont General Assemblies

{{reflist}}

• {{cite web |url=http://www.leg.state.vt.us/HouseClerk/History%20of%20Elected%20Officials%20Site/Vermont%20Senate%20Presidents%20Pro%20Tempore.htm |title=List of Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont Senate |last=Clerk of the Vermont House of Representatives |date=2011 |website=leg.state.vt.us |publisher=Vermont General Assembly |location=Montpelier, VT |access-date=March 31, 2018 |ref={{sfnRef|"List of Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont Senate"}}}}
• {{cite web |url=https://legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/32/015/01051 |title=Title 32, Chapter 015, Subchapter 002: Salaries and Fees, General Assembly |date=2005 |website=Vermont Statutes Online |publisher=Vermont General Assembly |location=Montpelier, VT |access-date=January 8, 2021 |ref={{sfnRef|"Salaries and Fees"}}}}

• {{cite book |last1=Duffy |first1=John J. |last2=Hand |first2=Samuel B. |last3=Orth |first3=Ralph H. |date=2003 |title=The Vermont Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uTBCXqOou0YC&pg=PA18 |location=Hanover, NH |publisher=University Press of New England |isbn=978-1-58465-086-7 |ref={{sfnRef|The Vermont Encyclopedia}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Erickson |first=Nancy, Secretary of the U.S. Senate |date=2008 |title=Pro Tem: Presidents Pro Tempore of the United States Senate Since 1789 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ucYiQfN8zmkC&pg=PA69 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-079984-6 |ref={{sfnRef|Pro Tem: Presidents Pro Tempore of the United States Senate Since 1789}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Haider-Markel |first=Donald P. |date=2009 |title=Political Encyclopedia of U.S. States and Regions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sWZ2AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=CQ Press |isbn=978-0-87289-377-1 |ref={{sfnRef|Political Encyclopedia of U.S. States and Regions}}}}
• {{cite book |last1=Sharp |first1=Nancy Weatherly |last2=Sharp |first2=James Roger |date=1997 |title=American Legislative Leaders in the West, 1911-1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uHqVYTkA08YC&pg=PA33 |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-313-30212-1 |ref={{sfnRef|American Legislative Leaders in the West, 1911-1994}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermont General Assembly |date=1836 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_fy9FAAAAYAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_fy9FAAAAYAAJ/page/n13 10] |location=Montpelier, VT |publisher=E. P. Walton & Sons |ref={{sfnRef|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1836)}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermont General Assembly |date=1851 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTgtAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA63 |location=Burlington, VT |publisher=Chauncey Goodrich |ref={{sfnRef|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1851)}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermont General Assembly |date=1852 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SSFFAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA70 |location=Rutland, VT |publisher=Tuttle & Co. |ref={{sfnRef|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1852)}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermont General Assembly |date=1853 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SSFFAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA10 |location=Rutland, VT |publisher=Tuttle & Co. |ref={{sfnRef|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1853)}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermont General Assembly |date=1856 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDctAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA12 |location=Montpelier, VT |publisher=E. P. Walton |ref={{sfnRef|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1856)}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermont General Assembly |date=1857 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onxDAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA230 |location=Woodstock, VT |publisher=Davis & Greene |ref={{sfnRef|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1857)}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermont General Assembly |date=1873 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XtDAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA4 |location=Montpelier, VT |publisher=Freeman Steam printing House and Bindery |ref={{sfnRef|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1873)}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermont General Assembly |date=1895 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_1CtFAAAAYAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_1CtFAAAAYAAJ/page/n5 4] |location=St. Albans, VT |publisher=St. Albans Messenger Co. |ref={{sfnRef|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1894)}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermont General Assembly |date=1908 |title=Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wS1FAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA5 |location=St. Albans, VT |publisher=St. Albans Messenger Co. |ref={{sfnRef|Journal of the House of Representatives and Senate of the State of Vermont (1908)}}}}

• {{cite news |last=Walters |first=John |date=January 4, 2017 |title=Walters: Newly Elected Senate President Ashe Comes Out Swinging |url=https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2017/01/04/walters-newly-elected-senate-president-ashe-comes-out-swinging |work=Seven Days |location=Burlington, VT |ref={{sfnRef|"Walters: Newly Elected Senate President Ashe Comes Out Swinging"}}}}
• {{cite news |date=November 23, 2020 |title=Balint nominated as first woman Senate President Pro Tempore |url=https://vermontbiz.com/news/2020/november/23/balint-nominated-first-woman-senate-president-pro-tempore |work=Vermont Business Magazine |location=South Burlington, VT |ref={{sfnRef|"Balint nominated"}}}}

Category:Politics of Vermont

Category:Government of Vermont

Category:Vermont General Assembly

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