Government of Vermont | |
---|---|
Polity type | Presidential Republic |
Constitution | Constitution of Vermont |
Legislative branch | |
Name | General Assembly |
Type | Bicameral |
Meeting place | Vermont State House |
Upper house | |
Name | Senate |
Presiding officer | David Zuckerman, President |
Lower house | |
Name | House of Representatives |
Presiding officer | Jill Krowinski, Speaker |
Executive branch | |
Head of state and government | |
Title | Governor |
Currently | Phil Scott |
Appointer | Election |
Cabinet | |
Name | 7 Executive Agencies |
Leader | Governor |
Deputy leader | Lieutenant Governor |
Headquarters | The Pavilion |
Judicial branch | |
Name | Judiciary of Vermont |
Vermont Supreme Court | |
Chief judge | Paul Reiber |
Seat | Montpelier |
The government of Vermont is a republican form of government modeled after the Government of the United States. The Constitution of Vermont is the supreme law of the state, followed by the Vermont Statutes. This is roughly analogous to the Federal United States Constitution, United States Code and Code of Federal Regulations respectively. Provision is made for the following frame of government under the Constitution of the State of Vermont: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. All members of the executive and legislative branch serve two-year terms including the governor and senators. There are no term limits for any office.
The Vermont state capital is Montpelier. In 1791, Vermont joined the United States as the fourteenth state.
An in-depth evaluation of government in 2008 ranked Vermont high compared to other states. It ranked highest in "small discrete issues and huge global ones." It performed poorly in the issues in-between and planning for the future. [1]
The Vermont Constitution guarantees broad rights for its citizens. Adopted in 1793, it contains in its first article ("Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of the State of Vermont") a far-reaching bill of rights, one of the most extensive in the world at the time of its adoption. Predating the ratification of the United States Bill of Rights by 14 years, the 1777 Constitution prohibited slavery and indentured servitude and provided for universal male suffrage, with no property ownership requirement for voting rights. It also set forth broad protections of religious freedom and conscience while erecting a strong separation between church and state by prohibiting establishment or promotion of any faith by the government or compulsion to worship. The "Declaration of the Rights of the Inhabitants of The State of Vermont" is believed to have been a model for France's Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen later.
Vermont's state legislature is the Vermont General Assembly, a bicameral body composed of the Vermont House of Representatives (the lower house) and the Vermont Senate (the upper house) meet at the Vermont State House. The Senate is composed of 30 state senators, while the House of Representatives has 150 members.
State legislators are paid $536 per week while the legislature is in session plus $87 per diem. [2]
With the current estimated population of Vermont from the last U.S. Census, there is approximately one Representative for every 4,059 residents. [3]
The Executive Branch consists of the Governor of Vermont, and state agencies. The executive branch enacts and enforces the laws of the state. The Governor is the supreme executive. The current Governor is Phil Scott, a Republican.
The offices of the Governor are located at The Pavilion in Montpelier, the state capital. The governor is paid a salary of $181,646.40 annually. [4]
Vermonters elect a state governor and lieutenant governor on separate tickets. For example, when Republican Governor Richard Snelling died in office in 1991, the Democratic Lieutenant Governor Howard Dean succeeded him for the remainder of that term. In addition to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Vermonters elect four other officials on a statewide ballot: Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Vermont Auditor of Accounts, and Attorney General.
The executive branch had about 8,000 employees in 2005, making it the largest employer in the state. [5] This high number is due, in part, to Vermont (and New England's) practice of assuming the functions, and therefore the budgets of the county government which is nearly non-existent. In 2008, there were 8262 people working for the government. [6] The average salary of a state employee was $50,014 in 2008. [7] In 2010, state employees agreed to take a 3% cut in salary and wages so that the government could balance the budget. [8]
There are three levels of bureaucracy: at the highest are secretaries and agencies; the next level are commissions; the third are departments and offices. Some commissions still retain their old name of "Department", as well as agencies, e.g. "Department of Transportation" is an agency.
There are seven agencies run by appointed secretaries: Administration, Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets (Agriculture), Commerce and Community Development, Digital Services, Human Services, Natural Resources, and Transportation. The salaries of the secretaries range from $109,000 to $128,169 annually. [9]
There are 21 commissions run by individual appointed commissioners: Aging and Independent Living, Buildings and General Services, Children and Families, Corrections, Disabilities, Economic Development, Education, Finance, Financial Regulation, Fish and Wildlife, Forests, Health, Human Resources, Information and Innovation, Labor, Liquor Control, Mental Health, Motor Vehicles, Parks and Recreation, Public Safety, Public Service, Taxes, and Tourism. The salaries of the commissioners range from $83,387 to $121,596 annually. [9]
The bureaucracy is structured as follows:
The governor, with approval of the legislature, appoints people to boards. Six boards govern the following commissions: a) Banking, Insurance, Securities, and Health Care Administration; b) Education - Run by Vermont State Board of Education; c) Labor; d) Liquor Control; e) Public Safety; and f) Public Service (advocacy).
The remaining commissions are under the following agencies along with various departments as indicated:
There are more than 100 transportation-related fees in the state including the usual drivers licenses and vehicle registration. [11]
Among other functions, the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) [12] regulates individual budgets for Vermont's fourteen hospitals. They approved an average increase for 2007 of 6.3%. The average increase for 2008 was 9.5%. Individual hospitals received approval for increases from 3.8% to 11.8%. [13]
The state's highest and the sole appellate court is the Vermont Supreme Court made up of five justices who serve six-year terms. The Chief Justice is the head of the judiciary and, with the other justices of the supreme court, oversees the judicial branch. Vermont has three additional courts and one division. Vermont is one of only nine states without an intermediate appellate court.
Appointments to the state supreme court, superior court, and district courts are made by the governor, from a list of names submitted by the state's Judicial nominating committee and then are confirmed by the Senate. At the end of each six-year term, the General Assembly votes by joint ballot (each member, senator or representative, getting one vote) on whether to retain the judge or justice (known as a judicial retention vote). Judges on lower courts are elected on a partisan ballot. The Vermont Constitution spells out the process of judicial appointment and retention in Chapter 2, Sections 32 through 35, 50 and 51. [14]
Vermont is one of twelve states that have no death penalty statute. After 1930, there were four executions, the last two being in 1954. Capital punishment was effectively abolished in practice in 1964, with the statutes being completely removed in 1987. State law allows children as young as ten years to be tried as adults, the lowest age limit currently specified by any of the 50 states. [15]
The Vermont prison system is administered by Vermont Department of Corrections. [16] There are about 2,200 inmates as of May 2007. [17] There are nine prisons in Vermont:
An unusual feature of Vermont Courts is the use of side judges, elected laymen who sit with the judge in certain cases and also serve as county administrators.
Vermont is the only state in the union not to have a balanced budget requirement and yet Vermont has had a balanced budget every year since 1991. [18] [19] In 2007, Moody's Investors Service gave its top rating of AAA to the state. [20]
The state uses enterprise funds for operations that are similar to private business enterprises. The Vermont Lottery Commission, the Liquor Control Fund, and the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, are the largest of the State’s enterprise funds. [21]
In 2007 Vermont stood 14th highest out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for state and local taxation, with a per capita load of $3,681. The national average was $3,447. [22] However, CNNMoney ranked Vermont highest in the nation based on the percentage of per capita income. The rankings showed Vermont had a per capita tax load of $5,387, 14.1% of the per capita income of $38,306. [23]
Vermont collects personal income tax in a progressive structure of five different income brackets, with marginal tax rates ranging from 3.6% to 9.5%. In 2008, the top one percent of the residents provided 30% of the income tax revenue. 2,000 people had sufficient income to be taxed at the highest marginal rate of 9.5%. [24]
Vermont's general sales tax rate is 6%, which is imposed on sales of tangible personal property, amusement charges, fabrication charges, some public utility charges and some service contracts (some towns and cities impose an additional 1% Local Option Tax). There are 46 exemptions from the tax which include medical items, food, manufacturing machinery, equipment and fuel, residential fuel and electricity, clothing, and shoes. A use tax is imposed on the buyer at the same rate as the sales tax. The buyer pays the use tax when the seller fails to collect the sales tax or the items are purchased from a source where no tax is collected. The use tax applies to items taxable under the sales tax.
Vermont does not collect inheritance taxes; however, its estate tax is decoupled from the federal estate tax laws and therefore the state still imposes its own estate tax. [25]
Property taxes are imposed for the support of education and municipal services. Vermont does not assess tax on personal property, though individual towns or cities can opt to do so. [26]
Property taxes are levied by municipalities based on fair market appraisal of real property. [27] Rates vary from .97% on homesteaded property in Ferdinand, Essex County, to 2.72% on nonresidents' property in Barre City. [28] Statewide, towns average 1.77% to 1.82% tax rate.
In 2007, Vermont counties were among the highest in the country for property taxes. Chittenden ($3,809 median), Windham ($3,412), Addison ($3,352), and Windsor ($3,327) ranked in the top 100, out of 1,817 counties in the nation with populations greater than 20,000. Twelve of the state's 14 counties stood in the top 20%. [29]
To equitably support education, some towns are required by Act 60 to send some of their collected taxes to be redistributed to school districts lacking adequate support. [30]
The state collects 86 cents per $100 of real estate valuation for residential properties and $1.35 per $100 for commercial and vacation properties. [6]
In an attempt to raise money and discourage smoking, the state raised taxes on cigarettes over the past decade. The tax in 2002 was 93 cents per pack; in 2010 it was $2.24 per pack. This resulted in cigarette revenue in 2002 of $24.5 million; $64.5 million in 2010. [31]
Money from the Vermont Lottery supplied about 2% of the annual expenditures for education in 2007, contributing $23 million, [32] of the $1.3 billion of school spending. [33] Prior to 1998, profits from the lottery went to the state government's general fund, but since then all profits are required to be spent on education. [32]
As in most of New England, Vermont counties have very few autonomous functions. Counties serve mainly as dividing lines for county and state courts, with several countywide elected officers such as a State's Attorney, two Assistant Judges, Probate Judge, Sheriff, and High Bailiff, and five to fifteen Justices of the Peace elected from each municipality within the county. Unlike other states, Vermont counties are not responsible for a road network, old-age homes, or other infrastructure or services. All county services are directly funded by the state via property taxes levied within the constituent towns. [34]
Internally, Vermont's 254 municipalities comprise ten cities, 237 towns and five unincorporated gores, governed by guidelines set by the state statutes and constitution. Towns govern themselves by direct citizen participation via town meeting. Between town meetings, town affairs are managed by a selectboard [35] or a town manager. [36] Additionally, an elected town clerk keeps track of the town's records, manages licenses, convenes civil boards, and runs elections. [37]
As in most of New England, any town that grows too large to be governed by a town meeting can opt for a city form with a mayor and city council. Towns and cities may also have town managers [38] and mayors responsible for the management of municipal affairs. Cities also have a board of aldermen in place of a selectboard.
There are three types of incorporated municipalities in Vermont, towns, cities and villages. As in the other New England states, towns are the basic unit of municipal government. Cities are independent of and equivalent to towns. Villages are included in towns but assume responsibility for some municipal services within their boundaries, usually water, sewage and sometimes local roads. Vermont is the only New England state with incorporated villages.
As is the case in most of New England, nearly every square foot of the state is within the borders of an incorporated municipality; only a few hundred people live in the unincorporated gores.
In 2010, as a result of a Homeland security grant for Operation Stonegarden, various local city police throughout the state were used to help patrol the Canada–US border area for illegal immigrants. The money was managed by the Vermont State Police. [39]
In most New England states, municipal governments derive all of their power from the state, though in practice the laws regarding their authority are so broadly construed that they have the form, if not the substance, of home rule. This is not the case in Vermont. Towns and cities in Vermont are subject to Dillon's Rule, [40] which holds that municipal governments only have the powers that are expressly granted to them by Vermont or federal law, plus any powers that are necessarily implied by the express powers and any powers essential to the municipality's existence. [41] [42] Vermont is one of ten states that does not grant municipalities even limited home rule, [40] and one of three "strict" Dillon's Rule states which impose particularly close limits on municipal power. [43]
As in the rest of the United States, the state government does not take direction from the federal government. However, the people of Vermont elect representatives to the federal government which pass federal laws and also recommend federal judicial appointments each of which may ultimately affect Vermont citizens.
Based on U.S. census data, Vermont has had one member in the House of Representatives since 1933.
Like all states, Vermont has two senators in the US Senate.
Chamber | District | Officer | Party | Term Start | Term Ends |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Senate | At-Large | Peter Welch | Democrat | 2023 | 2029 |
Bernie Sanders | Independent | 2019 | 2025 | ||
House of Representatives | At-Large | Becca Balint | Democrat | 2023 | 2025 |
Federal court cases are handled in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, which are subject to review by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals headquartered in New York City. By law judges and attorneys are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
There is at least one agency which is jointly run by the Legislative and Executive branches. This is the Vermont Telecommunications Authority, which is supposed to make high-speed internet access available to all Vermonters by the end of 2010. [44]
The select board or board of selectmen is commonly the executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms. Three is the most common number, historically.
The State of New Hampshire has a republican form of government modeled after the Government of the United States, with three branches: the executive, consisting of the Governor of New Hampshire and the other elected constitutional officers; the legislative, called the New Hampshire General Court, which includes the Senate and the House of Representatives; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire and lower courts.
The government of Florida is established and operated according to the Constitution of Florida and is composed of three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the governor of Florida and the other elected and appointed constitutional officers; the legislative branch, the Florida Legislature, consisting of the Senate and House; and the judicial branch consisting of the Supreme Court of Florida and lower courts. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, and ratification.
Massachusetts shares with the five other New England states a governmental structure known as the New England town. Only the southeastern third of the state has functioning county governments; in western, central, and northeastern Massachusetts, traditional county-level government was eliminated in the late 1990s. Generally speaking, there are four kinds of public school districts in Massachusetts: local schools, regional schools, vocational/technical schools, and charter schools.
The Government of Illinois, under Illinois' Constitution, has three branches of government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. The State's executive branch is split into several statewide elected offices, with the Governor as chief executive and head of state, and has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions. Legislative functions are granted to the General Assembly, a bicameral body consisting of the 118-member House of Representatives and the 59-member Senate. The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Illinois and lower courts.
The government of Texas operates under the Constitution of Texas and consists of a unitary democratic state government operating under a presidential system that uses the Dillon Rule, as well as governments at the county and municipal levels.
The government of the U.S. State of Oklahoma, established by the Oklahoma Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the federal government of the United States. The state government has three branches: the executive, legislative, and judicial. Through a system of separation of powers or "checks and balances," each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, some authority to regulate the other two branches, and has some of its own authority, in turn, regulated by the other branches.
Connecticut shares with the five other New England states a governmental structure known as the New England town. From 1666 to 1960, Connecticut had a system of county governments, which each had limited powers given to it by the General Assembly. They were abolished by Public Act 152 in 1960. Connecticut also had a system of sheriffs' offices until October 2000, when those were also abolished.
The government of the State of New Jersey is separated into three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The powers of the State of New Jersey are vested by the Constitution of New Jersey, enacted in 1947, in a bicameral state legislature, the Governor, and the state courts, headed the New Jersey Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of the state legislature, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court.
The Government of the State of New York, headquartered at the New York State Capitol in Albany, encompasses the administrative structure of the U.S. state of New York, as established by the state's constitution. Analogously to the US federal government, it is composed of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The head of the executive is the governor. The Legislature consists of the Senate and the Assembly. The Unified Court System consists of the Court of Appeals and lower courts. The state is also divided into counties, cities, towns, and villages, which are all municipal corporations with their own government.
The politics of Vermont encompass the acts of the elected legislative bodies of the US state, the actions of its governors, as overseen by the Vermont courts, and the acts of the political parties that vie for elective power within the state. The state's politics include local Democratic and Republican political parties, as well as several smaller parties.
The District of Columbia has a mayor–council government that operates under Article One of the United States Constitution and the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The Home Rule Act devolves certain powers of the United States Congress to the local government, which consists of a mayor and a 13-member council. However, Congress retains the right to review and overturn laws created by the council and intervene in local affairs.
The government of Indiana is established and regulated by the Constitution of Indiana. The state-level government consists of three branches: the judicial branch, the legislative branch, and the executive branch. The three branches share power and jointly govern the state of Indiana. County and local governments are also constitutional bodies with limited authority to levy taxes, pass legislation, and create and maintain local public infrastructure.
The government of the U.S. state of Kansas, established by the Kansas Constitution, is a republican democracy modeled after the Federal Government of the United States. The state government has three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. Through a system of separation of powers, or "checks and balances," each of these branches has some authority to act on its own, and also some authority to regulate the other two branches, so that all three branches can limit and balance the others' authority.
The Judiciary of Vermont is the state court system of Vermont, charged with Vermont law.
Elections in Vermont are authorized under Chapter II of the Vermont State Constitution, articles 43–49, which establishes elections for the state level officers, cabinet, and legislature. Articles 50–53 establish the election of county-level officers.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is governed by a set of political tenets laid down in its state constitution. Legislative power is held by the bicameral General Court, which is composed of the Senate and House of Representatives. The governor exercises executive power with other independently elected officers: the Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, and Auditor. The state's judicial power rests in the Supreme Judicial Court, which manages its court system. Cities and towns act through local governmental bodies to the extent that they are authorized by the Commonwealth on local issues, including limited home-rule authority. Although most county governments were abolished during the 1990s and 2000s, a handful remain.
The government of North Carolina is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. These consist of the Council of State, the bicameral legislature, and the state court system. The Constitution of North Carolina delineates the structure and function of the state government.
The government of Washington State is the governmental structure of the State of Washington, United States, as established by the Constitution of the State of Washington. The executive is composed of the Governor, several other statewide elected officials and the Governor's cabinet. The Washington State Legislature consists of the House of Representatives and State Senate. The judiciary is composed of the Washington Supreme Court and lower courts. There is also local government, consisting of counties, municipalities and special districts.
Local governments in Florida are established by the state government, and are given varying amounts of non-exclusive authority over their jurisdictions. The laws governing the creation of local governments are contained in the Florida Constitution and the Florida Statutes. Local governments are incorporated by special acts of the Florida Legislature. These include four types: counties, municipalities, school districts, and special districts.