Last night, legislators crowned the Women Legislator of the Year. She was characterized by one of the presenters as "congenial."
Drumroll, please. Rep. Donna Sweaney, D-Windsor, was the winner.
Sweaney is the unflappable - I guess that's congenial - chairwoman of the House Government Operations Committee.
As they introduced the nominees, the presenters addressed the issue of whether it's still valid to note a female legislator of the year vs. something that included both genders. Haven't we, it'd be easy to say, gone beyond that now that girls can play Little League?
In the Statehouse, there are a bunch of women in positions of power - the chairs of both appropriations committees, the House speaker.
House Speaker Gaye Symington said, though, there aren't enough portraits of women hanging on the walls of the Statehouse.
Rep. Sandy Haas, P-Rochester, said the nominees for this year's female legislator of the year included women from four decades, which puts them all in different eras of equality, or lack thereof. In her situation, Haas said she thought (God help her) at one point that she wanted to be a journalist, but she was told by an editor (never trust an editor is journalism's lesson no. 1) that they really didn't have female reporters.
There's also nothing stopping the men from organizing a male legislator of the year award. They would just probably all vote for themselves.
Here are Sweaney's comments made on the House floor today:
I want to thank the General Assembly for the honor bestowed on me as Legislator of the Year. My name appears on a beautiful plaque with outstanding people like Karen Kitzmiller, Marion Milne and Gaye Symington. Not only do I stand with these women but the outstanding women nominated for this honor, Avis Gervais, Helen Head, Martha Heath, Sue Minter and Alice Nitka.
Any success I have here I also owe to my mentor and friend Rep. Cola Hudson. He once told me that a committee chair only has power that he/she derives from the committee members. I do have a wonderful committee.
I am proud to serve among all the amazing women members of this House and Senate as well as the wonderful men who sit beside us and support us.
Thank you so very much for your generosity.”
- Terri Hallenbeck
