Webb reflects on 14 years in House

As Kate Webb steps down from 14 years as state representative for the Chittenden-5-1 legislative district, she shared some of her favorite moments with the Shelburne News.

Webb, a special education teacher, has always had an interest in politics, a trait she attributes to her father.

“I grew up in a house that was filled with politics. My father served in both the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations,” she said. “I learned the art of debate early and the need to understand a different perspective and why.”

Although she never thought being involved in politics would grow to encompass so much of her life, when presented with the opportunity 14 years ago, she overcame fear and accepted the challenge.

“I had several folks from the Democratic Party come and talk with me and describe the work and my husband — he was wonderful — said, ‘Wow, Kate, you’d be great,’ and so I decided I would,” Webb recalled.

Webb served on the fish, wildlife and water resources committee — now called the House Committee on Energy and Environment — for her first eight years before moving on to becoming chair of the House Committee on Education.

Webb called “the work that we did to address services and funding for students who struggled to learn and setting up a plan to address aging school infrastructure” one of her most important accomplishments.

“I think setting in place the opportunity for schools to really create a community school addressing literacy improvement,” she said, noting the universal school meals bill as an additional highlight.

Over 14 years she was able to help see through a number of policy changes, including “things like civil marriage and seeing end-of-life choices passed into law,” she said. “Other things like shutting down captive-hunt facilities and I truly love the direct work that I did to pass the Clean Water Act following Tropical Storm Irene.”

She also recounted one of her biggest wins the time when she testified before Congress as the lead sponsor of the genetic engineering “Right to Know” labeling law.

Her time as a legislator also overlapped with some of the hardest times for the country, the 2008 recession and the COVID-19 pandemic forced difficult budget and appropriations decisions for pandemic relief funds.

She chalked up the decision to step down to wanting “to spend more time with my beloved husband, Marshall. And when I heard that Kate Lalley was interested in running I felt that the time was right.”

But months after the announcement, her husband Marshall Webb — founder of the educational nonprofit that owns and operates Shelburne Farms — died unexpectedly on Aug. 11 after suffering a heart attack while swimming in Lake Champlain.

Kate Webb said that her work now is “trying to stabilize my life,” adding that she’s considering serving in another capacity in local government, but emphasized that she hadn’t yet made any plans.

Recounting her time as a legislator, Webb underlined the gratitude she holds for the civil nature of political discourse in the Green Mountains.

“I realize how incredibly different we are, but Vermont is civil,” she said. “We disagree, but we come to terms. Work and develop relationships with members of other parties, and in Vermont we’re able to do that. I think I found that the work is inspiring.

“It’s exciting, it’s exhausting, it’s labor intensive,” she added. “It can also be hilarious.”