Vermont’s legislative focus is sharpening on healthcare and housing as Representative Lori Houghton (D-Essex Junction) and Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden County) take on their new roles as House and Senate majority leaders, respectively. Both leaders transitioned from key committee chair roles, marking the first in at least two decades for Vermont’s Legislature.
Houghton, a former chair of the House Healthcare Committee, has long championed policies to improve Vermont’s healthcare system. Her leadership in the committee focused on supporting overburdened healthcare providers, improving mental health access, and suicide prevention initiatives.
“Our Vermont health care system is at a tipping point with unsustainable increases in the cost of health insurance and a system struggling with patient access,” said Houghton. “If we want Vermonters, especially our youth, to stay in Vermont, we need a focused effort by all parties on transforming our system.”
Similarly, Ram Hinsdale has emphasized the urgent need to address Vermont’s housing crisis. As the former chair of the Senate Economic Development Committee, she tackled the root causes of rising living costs. Ram Hinsdale’s background includes teaching environmental and social policy at Vermont Law and Graduate School.
“At the root of most of our affordability concerns are soaring health care costs and declining demographics, which will only be solved through increasing our housing stock,” Ram Hinsdale said. “I look forward to working with Leader Houghton on addressing the dual housing and health care crises we face.”
Their leadership appointments mark a significant shift, as it is uncommon for committee chairs to transition to majority leader roles because their expertise is tied to specific policy agendas. Ram Hinsdale noted, “Since I began serving in 2009, I have not seen anyone in either body go from chair to leader. But this speaks to the unique challenges we face and the unprecedented moment we’re in where Vermonters want to hear how we’re going to address interconnected questions of affordability and quality of life.”
As the Legislature reconvenes in January, both leaders are calling for concrete proposals from Governor Phil Scott to address health care, housing, and rising property taxes—key issues affecting Vermont’s affordability and quality of life.
