Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Vermont

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how Vermont performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

Vermont Governor

From 1992 to 2013, Vermont had Democratic governors in office for 14 years, including the last three, while there were Republican governors in office for eight years. Vermont was under Democratic trifectas for the last three years of the study period.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Vermont Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Vermont State Senate for 18 years while the Republicans were the majority for four years. The Vermont State Senate is one of 16 state senates that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Vermont House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Vermont State House of Representatives for 17 years while the Republicans were the majority for five years. Vermont was under Democratic trifectas for the final three years of the study.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Vermont, the Vermont State Senate and the Vermont House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were five partisan control changes in Vermont during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Vermont slightly higher than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Vermont’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 22.43, which puts it at 22 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The years that Vermont had the highest ranking were 2003 and 2004, in which it ranked 15th.
• The year that Vermont had the lowest ranking was 2008, in which it ranked 33rd.
• The index types that Vermont had the highest ranking in were 24/7 Wall Street’s Best and Worst Governed States and Graduation Rate, in which it ranked 6th.
• The index type that Vermont had the lowest ranking in was CAFR Debt/GDP, in which it ranked 49th.

Vermont SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	4	7	8
America's Health Rankings	15	11	8	7	12	17	17	16	12	11	10	4	2	2	3	1	4	1	1	1	1
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	43	43	47	48	49	49	49	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	36	43	44	36	36	36	40	38
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	38	39	30	37	44	39
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	30	32	36	47	45	45	44
Govt. Employment Share Population	24	24	25	24	26	27	26	27	30	31	32	37	37	39	39	39	39	39	39	38	39
Graduation Rate	1	11	9	11	7	1	1	5	6	6	7	9	8	7	7	6	4	8	1	2	2
Personal Income Per Capita	30	31	33	33	34	33	32	30	29	24	24	24	23	23	21	22	26	20	19	21	21
Poverty Rate	10	9	1	14	32	10	16	15	22	21	16	5	3	3	2	17	6	5	9	13	N/A
Real GDP per capita	33	33	37	39	40	44	44	43	39	39	39	39	38	39	38	39	38	35	33	33	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	11	11	10	10	10	10	10	12	12	12	13	14
State Govt. Spending/GDP	43	42	41	42	42	40	41	43	48	48	45	48	47	49	49	50	49	48	48	50	N/A
State & local tax burden	45	43	44	38	38	42	42	38	38	41	41	39	39	47	47	43	41	40	38	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	38
Unemployment Rate	18	14	11	10	14	15	9	8	3	6	5	9	4	3	14	19	15	12	6	5	4
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	33	32	33	N/A
Voter Turnout	5	13	13	9	9	6	6	6	6	8	8	13	13	4	4	11	11	10	10	23	23
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	27	6	17	12	5

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Vermont state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. During the course of the study, Vermont had Democratic trifectas from 1997-2000 and from 2011-2013. Its lowest ranking, finishing 33rd, occurred in 2008 during a divided government. Its highest ranking, finishing 15th, also occurred during a divided government from 2003-2004.

Chart displaying the partisanship of the Vermont government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of Vermont
• Vermont State Senate
• Vermont House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs