Smells Like Gen Z Spirit

Vermont Future Caucus, notable for its members’ relative youth in a Statehouse that trends toward retirees, finds common ground over dumplings.

By Sarah Mearhoff and Shaun Robinson January 9, 2024, 7:15 pm | VT Digger

A dozen suits packed into Montpelier culinary gem Capitol Pho on Tuesday afternoon to talk shop over (complimentary) lunch. Unremarkable, you might say, except the wearers of those suits were young folks — by Statehouse standards, that is.

Vermont, meet your Future Caucus. Backed by the national nonprofit organization by the same name, Vermont’s Future Caucus is comprised of lawmakers under the age of 45 (though they’re not going to card you on your way in).

The tripartisan gaggle of lawmakers shares a goal to “tackle political polarization in order to get results for the youngest Vermonters across the state,” according to a Monday press release.

You may be wondering: Is it so notable to be young under the Golden Dome that it warrants an actual, factual caucus? Well, actually… yeah.

It is no secret in Montpelier that Vermont’s Legislature skews older. Rep. Casey Toof, R-St. Albans Town, said at a Tuesday press conference that 38 of the state’s 180 legislators are millennials or zoomers (as I hear they’re called these days). That’s just about a fifth of state lawmakers. Compare that to all Vermonters aged 18 to 44: 34% of the state population, according to a VTDigger analysis of U.S. Census data.

That discrepancy can impact the daily work of legislating, The Youths said Tuesday. “I can tell you that ageism is a daily reality here,” said Rep. Jay Hooper, D-Randolph, “and it goes both directions.”

“In a lot of cases, members who served too long become institutionally territorial,” Hooper continued. “If you think about the time it takes to pass a bill — eight or 12 years, in some cases — by the time we actually succeed, the issue has outpaced our capacity to solve the problem, and therefore the policy is largely obsolete. We, as younger members, look to try and create shortcuts so that that doesn’t happen.”

Nursing their noodles and dumplings (paid for by the national Future Caucus folks who flew to Vermont from D.C.) around a table later that afternoon, The Youngins chatted about some of their policy priorities this session. Criminal justice reform quickly emerged as a promising front on which young Dems and Rs could come together. This session’s splashy “Make Big Oil Pay” bill on the other hand…

— Sarah Mearhoff