State Rep. Jim Harrison, one of the most respected members of the House Republican caucus, will leave the Legislature shortly after the new year. Harrison has represented his district in rural Rutland County since 2017; before that, he’d been a Statehouse fixture for decades as head of the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association. He told The Rutland Herald that a move to Wilmot, New Hampshire is in the works simply because he and his wife have decided “it’s time to move on.”

Well, this is sudden, definitive, and puzzling. A Statehouse lifer and loyal Republican is bugging out for no particularly compelling reason. And I have a feeling that Harrison is an early canary in the coal mine. The conditions are right for a wave of resignations and retirements among Democrats and Republicans alike.

For starters, the Statehouse is a grind. The hours are long and often tedious, the demands are great and the financial rewards laughable. Honestly, it’s a wonder that anyone sticks around for very long. And then you get to the fact that this year’s session was tougher than usual, and next year’s is likely to be worse.

The 2025 session was dominated by an education reform debate that ran on and on, and ended with a bill that deeply divided the majority caucuses. Many Democrats felt bullied and ultimately betrayed by their leadership. The resultant bill, Act 73, made a lot of lawmakers unhappy, and the blowback from constituents must have been fierce.

2026 promises more of the same, only more so. The dominant issue will be the actual implementation of Act 73, which means that real, hard decisions will have to be made. They’re gonna spend weeks and weeks drawing maps that will drastically reduce the number of school districts while making everyone upset. Whatever they come up with is going to be roundly criticized.

Not to mention that crafting a budget is going to be a long exercise in blood-letting and disappointment. And unlike this year’s session, the 2026 Legislature will be operating in an election year. The voters are already in a foul mood, and there’s no prospect of any outcomes that will raise their spirits.

I have to think there are plenty among the rank and file who are questioning whether the not-very-tasty juice is worth the neverending squeeze.

On the Republican side, they’ve got a bunch of freshman lawmakers who were clearly unprepared for the realities of legislative life and had no desire or capacity to learn. Many were impatient with the typical fate of rookies — their bills and their input ignored, and little to show for trudging to the Statehouse day after day for months on end. How many of them will sign up for another two years of frustration? I mean, if a pro’s pro like Jim Harrison has had his fill, how many less experienced, less patient, and less intelligent Republican lawmakers will decide it’s easier to sit on the sidelines and bitch about government instead of tackling the often unrewarding work of operating within the system?

I haven’t talked to a lot of people about this. It’s just a strong sense based on the number of red flags I see flying. Let’s see, there are 180 legislative seats… how about we set the over/under for total resignations and retirements (including those already in the books) at 45? How’s that taste?