MEET MIKE

Mike Rice was elected to represent the Bennington-Rutland district (Danby, Dorset, Landgrove, Mt. Tabor, and Peru) in the Vermont House of Representatives in 2022. A Democrat, he serves on the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry, where he works to support Vermont’s working lands, sound stewardship, and community food security. He also serves on the leadership team of the Climate Solutions Caucus, the legislature’s largest issue-oriented caucus, where, alongside a broad coalition of legislators from across Vermont he works to advance policies related to adaptation, mitigation, and resilience in the face of climate change.

Born and raised in Upstate New York, Mike received his BA in English, with an interdisciplinary minor in Environmental Policy, from the State University of New York at Albany, graduating magna cum laude. He first came to Vermont to work on a farm in 2017. While there, he helped with the harvest, learned to make value-added products like cider and wine to support the farm’s viability, and witnessed different generations of Vermont farmers coming together to steward the land and help feed their neighbors. That’s when he fell in love with Vermont.

That's also when he learned that choosing to stay here, whether as a lifelong Vermonter or a new resident, can be hard to do. Along with his partner Sean, he navigated a lot of the challenges that exist in our rural state: housing availability and affordability, job opportunity and wages, lack of access to healthcare providers, and the reality of living without the protection of paid family and medical leave.

In 2018, they landed in our little corner of Vermont. Mike earned his Master’s in Food and Agriculture Law and Policy, with distinction, from Vermont Law School while working full time, first for a local dairy farm and creamery, then on regional policy and funding solutions for projects in food security, soil health, pollinator protection, and food system equity with the Northeast Organic Farming Association. He also served as a Research Assistant with the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems.

Mike and Sean live in Dorset, where they’ve found community. Sean splits his time between one of our region’s oldest manufacturing companies and his own new start-up small business. Mike is working hard and fighting for us in Montpelier. He is part of the next generation of leadership for our towns, our region, and our state.