Office of Shap Smith
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Shap Smith of Morristown, Lamoille County, Democrat, was born in Danbury, Connecticut, on December 16, 1965, and became a resident of present town in 1999. Occupation: Lawyer. He was educated at Peoples Academy, Morrisville, Vermont; University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont (B.A., 1987); Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana (J.D., 1991). He is married to Melissa Volansky and they have a son, Eli and a daughter, Mia. He is a Director of Lamoille Home Health and Hospice. Member of the House: 2003-2010. 
Shap Smith
Remarks of Speaker Shap Smith on the opening of the 2009-10 Legislative Biennium
January 7, 2009
Thank you, and what a wonderful day it is today. I want to begin by thanking my wife, Melissa. She is a strong, compassionate, intelligent and beautiful woman and I am lucky to be married to her. I also want to thank my children, Eli and Mia. I am very lucky to have such wonderful, intelligent and (mostly) well-behaved kids. To my family - my father and step-mother, my mother and step-father, my brothers and step-sister - thank you for your continued support.
I also want to thank my colleagues here today. I could not be more excited about working with such a smart and capable group of people in this House. Over the coming months, we will disagree from time to time. But disagreement is healthy - it allows us to tease out the best course of action and make the best decisions for Vermont. I thank you in advance for these disagreements and for your hard work to ultimately reach the best decisions for all Vermonters.
As we open this session, I want to reflect on an experience I had last year that brought into focus for me why I am here today; I'm sure all of you have had similar experiences that have brought into focus your own reasons for service in this body.
Last October, on a beautiful fall day, I went with my daughter to pick up my son from school. I had a busy day and wanted to get back to prepare dinner and make lunches. But my kids wanted to go play. I decided to stop and take a moment. We went down to the swings and as my kids played on that beautiful October day, I looked out over the same playground that I had played on as a child. I saw the same ball fields and the same schools that I had grown up with. And I saw in the background the same Green Mountains that I had hiked in as a kid.
I realized then, just how lucky I am to have been able to return and raise my kids in the same vibrant community I grew up in. I also realized that it was the work of men and women in this same chamber 30 years ago that made this possible. Their work preserved our working landscape and built our vibrant communities and outstanding school system.
Now, just as legislators went to work 30 years ago to build a future for Vermont that allowed me to return and raise my children here, so too do we go to work today to help lay the groundwork for a similarly bright future for our children.
Every Vermonter knows the seriousness of our state's challenges in the coming weeks and months, but we must also look beyond the immediate crisis toward building a stronger, more vibrant state for the future. Working together, we must all focus our efforts in this building over the coming months on the policies and priorities that will keep Vermonters working, warm and well.
It is precisely because we must confront immediate and long-term challenges that we can and must rethink the way we think about our state government and the way we deliver services to Vermonters. Our work must focus the state on providing a helping hand when Vermonters need it most. Our policies and priorities can and should:
- Keep Vermonters working by ensuring they have access to ongoing education and training and helping to create growth opportunities for Vermont businesses, particularly small businesses;
- Keep Vermonters warm by ensuring every Vermonter has access to safe and reliable heat in their homes and by building opportunities to weatherize their homes and businesses; and,
- Keep Vermonters well by partnering with them and their families to make sure they have access to quality and affordable health care and mental health services.
As we confront our immediate budget challenges and as we work to craft policies across the board that keep Vermonters working, warm and well, it is imperative that our state government reaches these goals efficiently and effectively.
We are now facing an immediate crisis, which requires an immediate response. This crisis is why today I am calling on this House to craft and pass a $150 million bond-based Economic Recovery package to keep Vermonters working now and in the future.
The centerpiece of the proposal is a public works jobs program modeled after one championed by Governor Richard Snelling in 1983. Together, we can keep Vermonters working and strengthen our state's public assets for the future.
Additionally, I am calling for a major reinvestment in Vermont's crumbling transportation infrastructure. Our roads, bridges, rail and public transit system keep the Vermont economy moving and current and future businesses are looking to us to ensure they are well constructed and maintained.
While the economy will be the first order of business and at the top of our agenda, there are many other pressing needs this body must confront, from strengthening public safety laws to building a strong energy future and retaining our working landscape. With the talent and creativity I see here in this chamber today, I know that we can work together and accomplish important work for Vermonters both on the economy and on these other issues.
Now is the time for decisive action. Now is the time for this legislature to follow in the footsteps of the legislature 30 years ago, which built a Vermont in which we are all proud to raise our children.
Shap Smith
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Vermont State House
115 State St
Montpelier, VT 05633
Phone: 802-828-2245
speaker@leg.state.vt.us
