[S]en. Norm McAllister’s arrest on Statehouse grounds last week has cast a shadow on the end of the legislative session as the Senate struggles to put the finishing touches on key bills.
That shadow is likely to grow, given new revelations over the weekend that the state senator allegedly forced a Statehouse intern to have sex at his Montpelier apartment. The intern is one of three victims who accuse McAllister of sexual assault. The state senator has pleaded not guilty to charges filed by prosecutors on Friday.
Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell says in light of the allegations, he will announce new rules for registering Senate interns and begin setting the groundwork for an ethics panel. A few weeks ago, Campbell told Seven Days he didn’t think an ethics commission was necessary, even though he had come under fire for lobbying for the creation of a deputy state’s attorney position that he was ultimately hired for.
“This is Vermont, we’re not like Boston,” Campbell said in an interview Sunday. He explained that he didn’t think it was necessary to pursue the formation of an ethics panel “in the middle of the session.”
Now, in light of the McAllister scandal, the pro tem says an ethics panel is a necessary vehicle for investigating allegations made against senators. “You never expect something like this to happen,” he said.
McAllister has also been accused of sexually harassing Rachel Weston, a former state representative. Senate and House sexual harassment panels are already charged with the authority to evaluate such complaints.
The panel would also give a lawmaker accused of wrongdoing an opportunity to refute allegations made by “journalists or bloggers.” Campbell said lawmakers need a place “where can people go to clear their name if someone makes an accusation.”
Campbell says he will meet with David Coates, a retired CPA and ethics advocate, after the session to look at the ethics rules the House adopted.
The House last year formed an ethics panel that has the authority to investigate complaints and could recommend disciplinary actions against a member if necessary.
As pressure builds for the Senate to police its own members, lawmakers are faced with a crushing amount of work to be completed in the next six days, the ostensible deadline for adjournment. The Senate has yet to approve the Lake Champlain bill, which must raise money for cleanup. If no action is taken, the EPA could take over regulation of the Clean Water Act in Vermont and force the state to spend millions of dollars on stormwater improvements.
And the House version of the S.9, the child protection bill, which would set new abuse and neglect reporting standards for caregivers, could fail to gain traction in the Senate because of differences over the details.
Passage of the renewable energy bill could happen, now that a compromise has been struck on statewide siting setbacks for solar projects.
The tax conference committees are engaged in kabuki performances that shed little light on what the House and Senate agree on, and there are major differences in the two proposals that have yet to be worked out. The only thing that is apparent at this point is that lawmakers agree that Gov. Peter Shumlin is “not too happy with all of us,” as Sen. Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, puts it.
And that’s the rub. Lawmakers will need to negotiate with the governor on the final plan for the $35 million in new taxes if they want to ensure he won’t veto the bill, which raises more money than he likes. Shumlin irked lawmakers when he insisted that they accept $8 million more in cuts to state spending just a day before the Senate brought its tax and budget proposals to a vote on the floor.
House representatives have little left to do, except concentrate on getting their way on the legislation they care most about, like the education reform bill. Lawmakers in the House who brokered a deal for school spending caps and other cost cutting measures are not happy about the Senate version, which they say does little to alleviate pressure on taxpayers.
Rep. Kurt Wright, R-Burlington, is “very disappointed” with the changes.
“There is no cost containment whatsoever in the bill,” Wright said. “I would have trouble voting for this bill the way it is, and I would ask Republicans to consider voting against the bill the way it is. I think it delivers very little to nothing for taxpayers who would say we have not heard the message from taxpayers last November.”
Wright says he hopes the legislation will undergo significant changes in the committee of conference. House Republicans will hold a press conference at 1:30 p.m. in the Cedar Creek Room to express their dissatisfaction with the Senate passed version of H.361.
The wild card this week will be a House vote on whether to eliminate the philosophical exemption for childhood immunizations.
The House Health Care Committee has been taking testimony for the better part of a week on H.98 and will hold a public hearing tonight from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the House Chamber.
The UVM Medical Center is busing employees to the hearing in support of repealing the exemption. Parents who maintain they should have the right to opt their children out of vaccinations will also be out in force.
The issue has been contentious and emotional, and that’s unlikely to change as both sides gear up for battle in the final week. The pro-exemption contingent was galvanized by testimony from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. last week, and the anti-exemption advocates were heartened by news that Gov. Peter Shumlin has shifted his position and now more openly supports the medical community’s hard-line stance on vaccinations for all children who are not exempted for religious or medical reasons.
The philosophical exemption debate is sure to keep the House busy as the Senate slogs to the finish line, which at this point is still slated for Saturday.
