Bill Carris resigns Senate post for health reasons

State Senator Bill Carris has announced that he is leaving the State House just a month after being re-elected. Anne Galloway of Vtdigger.org reported Wednesday that he was stepping down for health reasons. Carris has suffered ankle and back problems in recent years. He was first voted into the Senate in 2000 after leading the family business, Carris Reels in Rutland. Carris was Senate Majority leader last session and a rare Democrat from Rutland County. Governor Shumlin, after consulting with party leaders, will appoint someone to fill the position in the coming weeks.
Shumlin issued the following statement:Bills departure from the Senate is a loss to Rutland County and the state at large. Hes worked hard on critical issues, including economic development, housing and fighting substance abuse, and helped guide consensus on issues as Majority Leader in the Senate. As the owner of Carris Reels, Bill also brought an important business perspective to discussions on virtually every issue.
Carris took over the traditional family business of making industrial cable reels from his father. At the time, local businesspeople wondered if this hippy, who sported a pony tail for years, was the right man for the job. But he guided the business through difficult times and saw it transition to a thriving employee-owned organization. Vermont Business Magazine reports that Carris Reels has 185 employees with sales of $91 million in 2012, up from $81 million in 2011, $75 million in 2010 and $62 million in 2009.
His political career is also somewhat of a surprise. Media shy, Carris succeeded in an overwhelmingly Republican region and was elected, according to vtdigger, as the first Democrat from the county to fill a Senate seat after the civil unions fall out. Carris is an Army veteran and graduate of Castleton State College. Along with his duties as Majority Leader, he served in the Senate on the Finance, Institutions and Economic Development committees.
Secretary of State photo.