http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VERMONT_DEMOCRATS?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=POLITICS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Vt. Democrats Take Control of State House
By ROSS SNEYD
Associated Press Writer
MONPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- The Democrats triumphantly reclaimed control of
the Vermont House on Wednesday, four years after they were swept from
power in a backlash against the state's first-in-the-nation law creating
civil unions for gay couples.
Lawmakers and political observers said Vermont's voters have become more
comfortable with the notion of civil unions, which grant gay couples
nearly all the rights and responsibilities of marriage. They also said
anger over an education funding law enacted three years before civil
unions appears to have faded.
Longtime lobbyist Steve Kimbell, who represented advocates of civil
unions, said the 2000 civil unions law and the education measure had
upset the "natural balance of power" in the Legislature - a solid
Democratic majority in both the House and Senate.
"That backlash has worn off and we're back to the natural balance," he
said.
This is the first time in 30 years that one party strongly controls both
houses of the Legislature while the governor is from a different party.
Gov. James Douglas is a Republican.
The Democrats' first order of business Wednesday was electing Gaye
Symington as House speaker, only the second woman in Vermont history to
hold the most powerful post in the Legislature.
Two elections ago, in 2000, the Democrats went from 77 seats in the
150-member House to 62. In November, they captured 83 seats. With their
allies - six Progressives and one independent - they can easily control
the agenda in the House.
The Democrats never lost control of the Senate in 2000, though their
numbers slipped somewhat. In November, they picked up two seats for a
veto-proof 21-9 majority.
"As far as I could tell, civil unions was not an issue in Vermont in
2004, pro or con," said the Rev. Craig Bensen, who was an active
opponent of civil unions in 2000 and unsuccessfully ran for the Senate
as a Republican this time.
The Democrats now hope to tackle health care, energy and rural economic
development. Some advocates would like to see Vermont go further and
adopt gay marriage, as neighboring Massachusetts has done.
But most lawmakers say they are unwilling to take on such a divisive
issue again.
Symington, the new speaker, told her colleagues that her goal was to
create unity in the new House. "Power comes from working together," she
said.
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