By Guy Page
When it comes to legal rights for teenagers, the Vermont Legislature giveth and the Vermont Legislature taketh away.
On Tuesday, the Vermont Legislature passed H.148, prohibiting 16 and 17 year olds the right to marry. Current law allows marriage with parental permission, but the bill passed Tuesday would ban it outright. Supporters say teenagers who marry are more likely to divorce and suffer from spousal abuse.
On Thursday, the Vermont House voted 103-33 (with 13 absent) to approve the Town of Brattleboro charter change allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in local elections. H386 now goes to the Senate. If successful there, it faces a likely veto by Gov. Phil Scott, who vetoed a similar bill several years ago and said Wednesday he hasn’t changed his mind.
A rollcall on H386 shows that the House vote on teenage voting followed a party line, more or less, with Democrats and Progressives in favor and almost all Republicans either in opposition or absent.
Yes Votes:
Roberts of Halifax
Andrews of Westford
Andriano of Orwell
Anthony of Barre City
Arrison of Weathersfield
Arsenault of Williston
Austin of Colchester
Bartholomew of Hartland
Beck of St. Johnsbury
Berbeco of Winooski
Birong of Vergennes
Black of Essex
Bluemle of Burlington
Bongartz of Manchester
Bos-Lun of Westminster
Boyden of Cambridge
Brady of Williston
Brown of Richmond
Brownell of Pownal
Brumsted of Shelburne
Burke of Brattleboro
Burrows of West Windsor
Campbell of St. Johnsbury
Carp er of Hyde Park
Carroll of Bennington
Casey of Montpelier
Chapin of East Montpelier
Chase of Chester
Chase of Colchester
Chesnut-Tangerman of Middletown Springs
Christie of Hartford
Cina of Burlington
Coffey of Guilford
Cole of Hartford
Conlon of Cornwall
Corcoran of Bennington
Demrow of Corinth
Dodge of Essex
Dolan of Essex Junction
Durfee of Shaftsbury
Elder of Starksboro
Emmons of Springfield
Farlice-Rubio of Barnet
Garofano of Essex
Goldman of Rockingham
Graning of Jericho
Headrick of Burlington
Holcombe of Norwich
Hooper of Burlington
Hooper of Randolph
Houghton of Essex Junction
Howard of Rutland City
James of Manchester
Jerome of Brandon
Kornheiser of Brattleboro
LaBounty of Lyndon
Lalley of Shelburne
LaLonde of South Burlington
LaMont of Morristown
Lanpher of Vergennes
Leavitt of Grand Isle
Logan of Burlington
Long of Newfane
Masland of Thetford
McCann of Montpelier
McCarthy of St. Albans City
McGill of Bridport
Minier of South Burlington
Morris of Springfield
Mrowicki of Putney
Mulvaney-Stanak of Burlington
Nicoll of Ludlow
Notte of Rutland City
Noyes of Wolcott
Nug of South Burlington
O’Brien of Tunbridge
Ode of Burlington
Pajala of Londonderry
Patt of Worcester
Pearl of Danville
Pouech of Hinesburg
Priestley of Bradford
Rachelson of Burlington
Rice of Dorset
Satcowitz of Randolph
Scheu of Middlebury
Sibilia of Dover
Sims of Craftsbury
Small of Winooski
Squirrell of Underhill
Stebbins of Burlington
Stone of Burlington
Surprenant of Barnard
Taylor of Colchester
Templeman of Brownington
Toleno of Brattleboro
Torre of Moretown
Troiano of Stannard
Waters Evans of Charlotte
White of Bethel
Whitman of Bennington
Williams of Barre City
Wood of Waterbury
No Votes:
Bartley of Fairfax
Branagan of Georgia
Brennan of Colchester
Canfield of Fair Haven
Demar of Enosburgh
Donahue of Northfield
Galfetti of Barre Town
Goslant of Northfield
Graham of Williamstown
Gregoire of Fairfield
Hango of Berkshire
Harrison of Chittenden
Higley of Lowell
Labor of Morgan
Laroche of Franklin
Lipsky of Stowe
Maguire of Rutland City
Marcotte of Cov ry
Mattos of Milton
McCoy of Poultney
McFaun of Barre Town
Morgan of Milton
Oliver of Sheldon
Page of Newport City
Parsons of Newbury
Peterson of Clarendon
Shaw of Pittsford
Smith of Derby
Taylor of Milton
Toof of St. Albans Town
Walker of Swanton
Williams of Granby
Wilson of Lyndon
Absent:
Burditt of West Rutland
Buss of Woodstock
Clifford of Rutland City
Cordes of Lincoln
Dickinson of St. Albans Town
Dolan of Waitsfield
Hyman of South Burlington
Krasnow of South Burlington
Mihaly of Calais
Morrissey of Bennington
Sammis of Castleton
Sheldon of Middlebury
Stevens of Waterbury
“Within safe and principled bounds, the freedom to experiment with our democracy is fundamental to our United States.” Rep. Tristan Roberts, a Wilmington Democrat, said from the floor of the House.