Vincent Illuzzi

American politician

Vincent Illuzzi, Jr. (born September 17, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician from Derby, Vermont who formerly served as a Republican member of the Vermont State Senate representing the Essex Orleans senate district. Illuzzi was first elected to the Vermont Senate in 1980. From 1976 to 1979, he was a correspondent for the Burlington Free Press. In 1978, he interviewed Peter Galbraith when he was chair of the Vermont Democratic Party; some 40 years later, they served together in the Senate. At 27, Illuzzi was the youngest person ever elected to the Vermont Senate. He served from 1981 to 2013. He did not run for reelection in 2012, and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Vermont Auditor of Accounts. He currently serves as the State's Attorney for Essex County, although a resident of neighboring Orleans Co. The question of residency was the subject of a State Superior Court case:Arguably, there is an equally compelling policy reason for allowing voters to elect officials who do not reside in the voters’ county: it increases the pool of eligible candidates to fill those positions. Such a consideration may be important for small counties like Essex which may have few lawyers or law enforcement officers willing to run for state’s attorney or sheriff. Without a residency requirement, voters may be better assured that they are electing the most competent and qualified person willing to hold the office. If the framers had intended county officials to be county residents, they would have specifically mandated that in the constitution. Noble v. Sec’y of State, No. 48 9 10 Excv (Manley, J., Oct. 21, 2010)

Vincent Illuzzi was born in Montpelier, Vermont, on September 17, 1953. An attorney, he received his A. B. degree from Saint Michael's College in 1975 and a J. D. degree from Vermont Law School in 1978. Illuzzi is married to Eileen Maher. The couple live in Derby and have one son. Illuzzi is the son of Vincent Illuzzzi, Sr. (1920 2013), born in Giovinazzo, Italy, who emigrated to the US at the age of 17 and became a granite sculptor. Illuzzi, Sr. carved one of the largest monuments ever shipped from Barre, a granite sculpture depicting a person chained to a wall that is part of the Taras Shevchenko Memorial located near Dupont Circle, Washington DC. He also supported the restoration of the Old Labor Hall and the Vermont Granite Museum in Barre. In 2012, the newspaper Seven Days published a tribute to the elder Vincent Illuzzi, titled, "Rock Star." As Illuzzi, Jr. summed it up when he delivered his father's eulogy: Not bad for a 17 year old kid with an eighth grade education who couldn’t speak English who left home and traveled to a faraway place called America to make his mark on life. Illuzzi was a correspondent for the Burlington Free Press from 1973 through 1978, covering mostly Barre Montpelier local news. He started working summers during college and then throughout law school on a part time basis. His recollections from those days are captured in the PBS documentary Headline Vermont. In a 1974 article, he documented the Democratic Platform Convention and a resolution made by Peter Galbraith condemning Nixon's pardon.

Illuzzi was first elected to the Senate in 1980 and was re elected every two years through 2010. In the Senate, he served as Assistant Minority leader from 1985 to 1988 and Assistant Republican leader from 1991 to 1992 and 1997 to 2005. He served as Republican leader in 2005. For a biographical article, see "InVinceable, Tactics, 'Tude and Teflon keep Vince Illuzzi in the Senator's Seat," by Paula Routly, in Seven Days in 1999.

An example of how Sen. Illuzzi used the legislative appropriation process to champion Vermont values is his inclusion of the following provision in a 1992 Capital Construction Bill:The Vermont veterans' memorial cemetery. . shall allow for freedom of choice by the family of a veteran, a veteran's spouse and a veteran's minor child, who will be interred, of an upright or flat memorialization to mark the grave. Preference shall be given to the use of Vermont granite, Vermont slate, and Vermont marble for all memorialization. Cf: 20 V. S. A. § 1585 While the national Veterans' Administration preferred to use markers flush to the ground to make it easier to mow the grass and maintain the grounds, Illuzzi recalled his father's work as a sculptor in the granite industry and knew that markers flush to the ground are not as visually significant and their use would certainly undercut the Barre granite industry and the West Rutland and Proctor marble industry. After including that requirement as a condition of the appropriation, the US Department of Veterans Affairs reconsidered its national policy and about six months after the Vermont cemetery opened, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on Jan. 19, 1994 authorized the nationwide reintroduction of upright granite headstones. While Sen. Illuzzi was unable to attend on the day of the dedication of the cemetery, as chair of the Senate Institutions Committee, he designated a member of the committee, Senator Julius Canns of St. Johnsbury, Caledonia County, to appear and speak in his place. Senator Canns was a World War II veteran who served in the Pacific Theatre as a sergeant in the U. S. Marine Corps and he is now buried at that cemetery.

Sen. Illuzzi led the effort to secure the first state appropriation to save from likely demolition the Socialist Labor Party Hall, also known as the Old Labor Hall, at 46 Granite Street in Barre. A section of the 1998 Capital Bill provided for the sum of $30,000 to be matched “when two dollars have been raised from non state sources, for each dollar appropriated.” The provision specifically stated that “the match from non state sources may include in kind contributions,” making the seed money a community endeavor. Later, the building was slated for a foreclosure auction and several Barre residents were concerned it would be torn down. Illuzzi, as chair of the Senate Institutions Committee (1991 2015), and with support from Washington County Sen. Bill Doyle, a member of that committee, successfully secured a $40,000 appropriation in 2001 to the “Barre Historical Society, Inc., for restoration and repair of flood damage to Old Labor Hall”, to stave off the foreclosure and convince the local bank that the Barre Historical Society could raise the necessary funds to pay off the mortgage and restore the building.

A major accomplishment during Sen. Illuzzi's tenure as chair of the Senate Institutions committee (1991 2013) was the purchase of the Champion Lands in Essex County. Now renamed the Kingdom Heritage Lands, it has been called "one of the largest and wildest swaths of forest in the state." In 1997 Champion International Co, one of the world's largest paper companies, put up for sale 133,000 acres in VT and 200,000 acres in NH & NY. A coalition of conservation groups supported a $26.5 M deal to buy the land in VT. The overall deal required the legislature to approve $4.5 M with private foundations and The Conservation Fund to come up with the remainder, all part of a $76.2 M deal to buy all 300,000 acres of Champions holdings. In commenting on negotiations intended to bring together competing interests on the use of the land, Illuzzi was quoted as saying, "We seized a monumental, but momentary opportunity to protect and preserve an invaluable resource for generations to come I am convinced our children will be always grateful." The extent to which the state's share of the land, the “core reserve” of the West Mountain Wildlife Management Area, would remain in a virtually pristine condition, continued to be a subject of negotiations in the state legislature in 2002. Illuzzi floated a proposal to attempt to break the logjam.

The Vermont Granite Museum of Barre, incorporated in 1995, was another project spearheaded by Illuzzi, when he was chair of the Senate Institutions Committee. From 1895 to 1975, the Jones Brothers Company had operated two granite sheds on North Main Street in Barre. The remaining shed was falling into a state of disrepair. Washington County Senators Bill Doyle, Matt Krauss and other Washington County legislators approached Illuzzi to help Barre residents secure state funding to preserve the building before it collapsed. In a 2001 Capital Bill, at Illuzzi's recommendation, a $200,000 State appropriation was included as well as a provision encouraging the Cities of Bare and Montpelier and the Towns of Barre and Berlin authorize their own appropriations "for the purpose of contributing to the acquisition, development, and improvement" of the Museum.

From 1993 to 1997, the opera house was closed due to government requirements involving handicapped access and fire safety. After a year of construction, and the addition of sprinklers, an elevator, and a fire escape tower – all respecting the historic character of the building – the opera house was reopened amid much fanfare. The project to make safety and accessibility improvements required bipartisan in the Vermont legislature as well as international support. The improvements were required by the State of Vermont, and the Province of Quebec through its cultural ministry agreed to pay 40 percent of certain renovations. The Vermont Legislature's intent was that an appropriation would enable the facility to be reopened and operated, in accordance with the original will of its donor, as a cultural resource benefiting all members of the unique American and Canadian community. The renovations themselves entailed bi national cooperation.

Sen. Illuzzi established a relationship with Chief Homer St. Francis shortly after a "fish in" in Franklin County which resulted in charges of fishing without a license against a group of the Missisquoi Abenaki Tribe, a subpart of the Western Abenaki Tribe. The defendants moved to dismiss the charges based on the doctrine of "aboriginal rights." District Court Judge Joseph Wolchick agreed but his decision was later reversed by the Vermont Supreme Court, in State v. Elliot. St. Francis later testified in the Senate Institutions Committee in connection with the purchase of a historic burial ground on Monument Road in Swanton. In subsequent years, state appropriations from the annual capital construction act for activities concerning Native Americans were recorded as follows:

1989 $43,750 In Highgate, for a precontact burial site and to stabilize the Mississquoi River bank Act 52, sec. 4(b)(2)
1991 $50,000 To secure land to bury Abenaki remains Act 93, sec. 4(c)
1995 $200,000 This reparation was made possible under Sen. Illuzzi's leadership by the inclusion of the appropriation in a Capital Bill for the “purchase of a parcel of land, including buildings and improvements, in Highgate, which is recognized as a significant Native American burial ground dating as far back as circa 885 B. C. to 100 B. C.”Act 62, sec. 20 According to an Associated Press account: At the behest of the Abenaki Indians, the State of Vermont is planning to buy property in the nearby town of Highgate where an ancient Abenaki burial ground was disturbed 21 years ago, when a house was built on the site. The purchase will allow the remains to be reburied at the site, where they had been undisturbed for dozens of centuries until 1974. 1996 $25,000 To restore the Native American burial ground historic site in Highgate and assist with the reburial of remains at the site. Act 185, sec. 18i
1997 $5,000 To study the feasibility of rehabilitating a historic building in Swanton for a Native American cultural heritage museum, "with each dollar used from this appropriation to be matched with two dollars contributed from non state sources" Act 62, sec. 12(b)

At a Feb 29, 2008 Senate Economic Development Committee Hearing,April St. Francis Merrill daughter of Chief Homer St Francis testified along with others in support of tribal recognition. At that time, Sen. Illuzzi was quoted as saying, “What I’ve said to them is that we cannot pass a bill that upsets as many as it pleases. Everybody’s got their positions and they’re well reasoned, and I respect their positions Right now, it’s up to the different groups to come to some consensus.” The Bill on the Recognition of Tribes and Bands of Native Americans, passed the Senate but was not enacted into law. The bill proposed that the state of Vermont recognize the Koasek Traditional Band of the Sovereign Abenaki Nation (led by Chief Brian Chenevert and Chief Nancy Millette), the Sovereign Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi St. Francis/Sokoki Band (led by Chief April St. Francis), and the Nulhegan Band of the Abenaki Nation (led by Chief Luke Willard) as original Native American tribes who reside in Vermont. In 2011, when Sen. Illuzzi was chair of Senate Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs, statutory changes were made to the Governor's Commission on Native American Affairs, including that commission members receive a per diem stipend. By the 2011 2012 Legislative Session, several bills sponsored by Sen. Illuzzi became law recognizing the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation and the Elnu Abenaki Tribe as state recognized tribes by the state of Vermont. as well as a bill which legally recognized the Koasek Abenaki as a tribe. Responding to criticism of his support of these bills, Sen. Illuzzi said at the time that “critics have been unable to explain to him why it would hurt the state to recognize what he described as tribes ‘that have existed here for generations but have been required to go underground because of the eugenics movement and other anti Indian sentiments of the past. Until they convince me otherwise I'm on board.’”

Illuzzi worked with the Abenaki for years and his efforts are still seeing results years later. A 2020 news article explored his association with Don Stevens, a political activist and chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation. Stevens said that Illuzzi "touched all the bases and smoothed the way to the legislation being enacted by the General Assembly and being signed into law by [then governor] Peter Shumlin." In October 2023, Vermont Public produced a special series from Brave Little State entitled "Recognized"  about Abenaki peoples and the ongoing dispute about who belongs to their communities. Vince Illuzzi is quoted in the podcast. VTDigger also addressed the issue and quoted Illuzzi on the issue of recognition of the Vermont tibes as saying: Like anything else, the Legislature’s like a jury. Somebody comes in and makes their case and you choose to believe them or not,. . And you know, we chose to believe them.

Senator Illuzzi chaired the conference committee that created the Working Lands Enterprise Fund and Board  [cf Working Lands Enterprise Initiative] which became law in May 2012. The legislation’s intent was to “stimulate a concerted economic development effort on behalf of Vermont’s agriculture and forest product sectors by advancing entrepreneurism, business development, and job creation.”

Senator Illuzzi helped support the creation of “the first communal land of the Nulhegan Abenaki in 200 years” in a forest in Barton, VT. Illuzzi assisted a coalition consisting of the Vermont Land Trust, the Sierra Club, and the VT Housing & Conservation Board, in finding a solution with the town of Barton enabling the Abenaki to purchase the land. Of the project Vince Illuzzi said at the time:As one of the state senators from the NEK, it has been my pleasure to actively support this project. I am proud to live in a state where we can forge such creative, new, approaches to deal with the issues of wildlife conservation, economic development, and setting right the historic wrongs suffered by the Native American people. This is the “Vermont Way.” The nonprofit Abenaki Helping Abenaki bought the land in December 2012.

On October 17, 2011, Vincent Illuzzi and 45 other Vermont residents and ratepayers filed a motion to intervene in a Public Service Board Docket over the merger of Central Vermont Public Service [CVPS] into Green Mountain Power [GMP] and in addition filed a Petition to Appoint Independent Counsel to ensure that the ratepayers’ interest and the public good of Vermonters was well represented in the proceedings. By intervening in the case, Illuzzi was able to strengthen the hand of Vermont Department of Public Service [DPS] Commissioner Miller to press GMP and its parent company Gaz Métro (now Énergir) for as many seats as possible on the privately owned, but regulated transmission operator, the Vermont Electric Power Company VELCO. The result is that while Gaz Métro held majority control of the board, it operated with public members and was therefore obligated to consider the "public good" before proposing policy changes that may adversely impact retail electric customers. As noted in the Board's Final Order dated June 15, 2012: Several parties reached settlement agreements with the Petitioners that increased or clarified the benefits to be provided to ratepayers and other entities as a result of the Proposed Transaction. . The DPS MOU also improves the Petitioners' proposal for preventing the Combined Company from exercising majority shareholder control over VELCO and VT Transco. pp. 5 6 Sen. Illuzzi's effort to champion the “public good” in electricity transmission followed the scholarship "to enhance the transparency of RTO [Regional Transmission Organizations] governance and other measures (including greater state governmental involvement) to increase the diversity of views presented" and perhaps also a legacy of former Gov. George Aiken.

On the evening of Jan 9 2012, Levi Duclos, 19 of New Haven, CT, was reported as an overdue hiker in Ripton. Police initiated a ground search on the morning of Jan 10 during which Duclos was found dead. At that time, Sen. Illuzzi, proposed a study committee to address criticism of the Vermont State Police response to the missing hiker report. Iluzzi was quoted at the time as saying that “The [Vermont State Police] is still a relatively small police force,” Illuzzi added, “and we can’t expect them to respond to every rescue, and therein lies the problem.”

Illuzzi’ ideas that “the department of public safety develop and implement an interim protocol establishing responsibility and authority for search and rescue operations” and to create “a search and rescue strategic plan development committee to recommend how search and rescue operations be conducted in Vermont on a permanent basis” were incorporated in a larger bill making changes in municipal government that was enacted into law in May 2012. S. 106 (Act 155), sec. 30 & 31

In 2013, a State search and rescue coordinator was named. Today there exists within the Vermont State Police a dedicated Search and Rescue Team which coordinates with the Department of Fish & Wildlife and other local and regional private and municipal rescue services.

Illuzzi was also instrumental in using the March 2012 meeting to honor former State Senator Robert Gannett in what would turn out to be his last public appearance. State Representative Sarah Edwards read the Senate Concurrent Resolution honoring Gannett. In 1992, Illuzzi authored what became a Joint Resolution ordering that the new Addison County courthouse in Middlebury, Vermont be named the Judge Frank Mahady Courthouse. Illuzzi led the effort to name the courthouse in Chittenden County after Judge Edward Costello, who served as chief trial judge from 1967 to 1980. The resolution is quoted as stating that " during all of those years, Judge Costello was known as a fair, efficient and impartial judge "

During his tenure in the Senate, Illuzzi either led or otherwise guided the effort to rename a number of other State facilities, including: the Asa Bloomer State Office Building in Rutland; the Robert H. Wood, Jr. Criminal Justice and Fire Service Training Center of Vermont in Pittsford; the Edgar M. Weed State Fish Hatchery in Grand Isle; the John J. Zampieri State Office Building in Burlington; the Emory A. Hebard State Office Building and the adjacent Warren "Jersey" Drown Parking Facility in Newport.

Illuzzi holds the office of Essex County State's Attorney, to which he was first elected in 1998. He has uniquely been endorsed by and accepted the nomination of all parties to serve in this office. He also served on the Governor's Committee on Children and Youth and the Governor's Commission on the Administration of Justice.

In 2007, Illuzzi was mentioned by then State Senator Peter Shumlin (a Democrat) as a potential independent candidate for governor. In 2012, Illuzzi chose to run for State Auditor, as Republican incumbent Tom Salmon was retiring. Illuzzi had reportedly considered running as an independent. He had some endorsements from labor unions, and had hoped that would make voters not see him as a typical Republican. The Caledonian Record endorsed his candidacy, saying: The Republican candidate, Senator Vince Illuzzi of Newport, has served 32 years in the Senate, and also for many years as Essex County state's attorney. A liberal Republican who has been elected on both party tickets, he has earned high marks from both sides for his mastery of the legislative process and his knowledge of the workings of state government. Iluzzi lost in the general election to Democratic and Progressive candidate Doug Hoffer. He said after the election, "It was a tsunami for Democrats I can sense that running as a Republican was a real liability."

On October 11, 1993, on “Larry King Live,” Paul Bogosian, a local talk show host and Senator Illuzzi “heatedly argued the facts” of the case of Robert Drew, a Vermont native who was on death row in Texas for the previous 10 years for stabbing a teenager, with a Texas legislator and a district attorney in Amarillo Texas. A co defendant was sentenced to life in prison after testifying that Drew carried out the killing, but recanted his story 101 days after Drew was sentenced to death. Texas law states that new evidence must be presented within 30 days of sentencing, so the recantation could not be used in Drew's appeals. Illuzzi said with respect to the Texas law which prohibits the introduction of new evidence more than 30 days after a defendant’s sentencing, “You folks are making the decisions here on the basis of a calendar when what you are dealing with is a man’s life.”

Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont had urged his Texas counterpart, Gov. Ann W. Richards, to commute Mr. Drew's sentence. After the CNN show, a Texas appellate court granted an injunction stopping the execution hours before Drew was scheduled to be executed. His appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals was denied on August 1, 1994 and Drew was executed on August 2, 1994.

In 1993, Illuzzi received a six month suspension of his law license for filing three complaints to the Judicial Conduct Board against Vermont Judge David Suntag. The complaints related to Suntag's scheduling Essex County cases in other courtrooms. During the fifth month of his suspension, the Vermont Supreme Court and the Vermont Professional Conduct Board found that Illuzzi had made unfounded complaints against a trial judge, and his law license suspension was continued. His license was restored in 1998. The Vermont Supreme Court, over the years, has attempted to close some of the more rural courthouses. Essex County has always been on the list. In 1992, responding to appeals from Essex County's assistant judges that Judge David Suntag was hearing Essex County family court cases as far away as Chelsea, over 100 mile (161 km) away, Illuzzi inserted a provision in that year's Capital Construction Bill that read included the sentence: "No Essex Family Court cases shall be heard at any other location, except Guildhall." Suntag subsequently scheduled cases elsewhere. Illuzzi, on his Senate letterhead, then filed complaints against Suntag with the Judicial Conduct Board. The leading complaints related to Suntag's continued refusal to hold family court hearings in Essex County at the court house in Guildhall. Illuzzi was not involved in those cases as an attorney. The Judicial Conduct Board of the Vermont Supreme Court dismissed the complaints against Suntag and filed a complaint against Illuzzi for filing them. Since Illuzzi was a lawyer, the Supreme Court had jurisdiction over his law license. The Professional Conduct Board, which is appointed by the Supreme Court, investigated the Court's complaint and recommended Illuzzi be disbarred for filing the complaint in his capacity as a state senator against Suntag. Suntag's wife, the Bar Counsel, prosecuted Illuzzi. The charges were that Illuzzi violated the Vermont Bar's Disciplinary Rule DR 8 101(A)(2) (a lawyer who holds public office shall not use position to influence tribunal to act in favor of himself or client); DR 1 102(A)(5) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct prejudicial to administration of justice); and DR 1 102(A)(7) (lawyer shall not engage in conduct that adversely reflects on fitness to practice law). Illuzzi stipulated to an 18 month suspension with the expectation that his stipulations would mitigate the Supreme Court's complaint, but the Professional Conduct Board recommended disbarment. Illuzzi appealed the Board's recommendation to the Vermont Supreme Court and he asked that Justices Gibson, Dooley, Johnson and Morse recuse themselves because they filed the complaint and would be sitting in judgment of the resolution of the complaint, and other reasons. When Dooley, Johnson and Morse refused, he sued them in U. S. District Court. The presiding federal district court judge delayed ruling on the case until Dooley, Johnson and Morse recused themselves (164 VT 623). A substitute Supreme Court then agreed to a negotiated 18 month suspension of Illuzzi's law license (165 VT 598). In ratifying the suspension, the Supreme Court noted that Illuzzi had been guilty of five prior disciplinary offenses. As of February 9, 1998, Illuzzi had completed all requirements for reinstatement of his license to practice law, including successful completion of an ethics course and support from other lawyers and judges. However, the Court refused to sign the two sentence reinstatement order until July 28, 1998. Three days later, the state's largest newspaper, The Burlington Free Press, editorialized that Illuzzi was being unfairly treated by the Supreme Court. The editorial was titled "Disorder in the court: Vermont's Supreme Court behaved in far too political and personal a fashion in the case of state Sen. Vincent Illuzzi". The editorial criticized the Court for its handling of the case and commented: "The court restored Illuzzi's license to practice law this week, but that is no more remedy than a bank robber's returning the cash. Illuzzi, who never deserved to lose his license in the first place, should have had it back six months ago." However, the General Assembly heard arguments against reelecting Suntag for another six year term of office, but ultimately voted him in. (Vermont judges are reelected by the General Assembly every six years.) Illuzzi was profiled in a Boston Globe article by Jon Margolis shortly after he was reinstated to practice.

In 2006, Vermont District Court Judge Edward Cashman was criticized by a WCAX reporter, Brain Joyce, for handing down a “60 day sentence” in a case of a child rapist, State v Hulett. The reporter went on to say that the judge “no longer believes in punishment and is more concerned about rehabilitation." Bill O'Reilly of the O’Reilly Factor, then focussed national attention on the case, repeating the criticism. Senator Illuzzi pointed out that the “national outcry has been based on the grossly inaccurate report of a remark the judge never actually made.” The facts were: “Judge Cashman never said he did not believe in punishment. What he did say was . ‘And I keep telling prosecutors, and they won't hear me, that punishment is not enough.’ “

In the Hulett case, the Vermont Department of Corrections policy in effect at the time of the initial sentencing would not offer treatment for the offender if he were to be incarcerated, while another policy would release him after serving just 60 days of a 60 day to 10 year sentence. The Judge was forced to balance the alternatives available to him. Illuzzi's commentary was also reprinted in the Boston Globe. Judge Cashman resentenced Hulett to 3–10 years because the State administration had changed its policy so that offenders like Hulett could get treatment on the inside. In January 2020, Hulett was sentenced in the US District Court in Rutland to a term of 120 months in prison and a ten year term of supervised release upon his plea to possession of child pornography. Hulett is currently incarcerated at FCI Otisville with a release date of 11/20/2027.

Illuzzi is a member of the Assembly of Overseers of Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, and serves on the National Advisory Board of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation. While in Vermont Law School, he served as a student member on the board. As a private citizen, Illuzzi testified on Apr 8, 2021 before the Vermont Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee concerning provisions of bill relating to the management of fish and wildlife.

After losing the 2012 election for auditor, Illuzzi resumed practicing law full time. He also advises clients on legislation and government relations.