Around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, foot traffic started trickling up the sidewalks around the Vermont Statehouse for the 2020 session's opening day. Along the way, people hauled rolling file boxes, greeted each other with hugs and declared,"Back to school!"
Rep. Diana Gonzalez of Winooski caught up with Rep. Barbara Murphy of Fairfax, left, and Rep. Mary Hooper of Montpelier, right, and showed them photos of her baby girl.
Legislative page Julia Baldwin distributed mail (neatly!) on her first day of duties.
Vermont's first-ever director of racial equity Xusana Davis was welcomed at a reception in Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman's office.
Standing under a portrait of George Washington that hangs in the House chamber, Lucy Cannon-Neel, left, Carol McGranaghan, center, and Carol Irons, right — who identify as Nulhegan, Nulhegan and independent, respectively — led the devotional exercise at the opening of the House.
According to Cannon-Neel, it was the first time Abenaki people performed the exercise. "We made history today," she said.
Some state representatives, like Rep. Lynn Batchelor of Derby, personalized their House floor desks.
Others, like Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee Chair Chris Bray, spiffed up their committee rooms.
(Don't forget this Senate Agriculture Committee room decor, for which this digital producer never found an explanation.)
Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe held a media availability in his office, with the work of Burlington artist Frank DeAngelis as his backdrop.
Speaker of the House Mitzi Johnson had some housekeeping to do — mainly, cleaning out the podium. "You never know what you're going to find in here," she said.
Some committees opened by asking each member how their summer went ...
... and others, with food ...
... but all with plenty of bills.
More from VPR's Vermont Edition — Voices From The Statehouse: Live From The Cedar Creek Room [Jan. 7]
