The 2016 legislative session begins this week, and there is a mountain of work to be done as per usual. There is a budget (now out of whack) to balance somehow. Developing new protections for state workers is top of mind for many lawmakers in the aftermath of the shooting death of social worker Lara Sobel. And there are myriad issues that have bubbled to the surface since the first half of the biennium ended last May.
An issue no one wanted to deal with, leftover from the waning days of the last session, will make business as usual in the Senate an impossible mission.
For the first time in history, the Senate is faced with the removal of one of their own — Sen. Norm McAllister, who is accused of repeatedly raping a former intern who worked at the Statehouse last year. The Franklin County State’s Attorney brought multiple charges of sex assault against McAllister last May. McAllister has pleaded not guilty.
The Senate will take up a resolution to suspend McAllister on Wednesday, and the debate is expected to be dramatic. The Franklin County senator has been ardently defended by his colleague Sen. Peg Flory who argues any action by the Senate to remove McAllister will affect his ability to get a fair trial.
Senators don’t have the appetite to expel McAllister, but inside sources say the Senate does have enough votes to suspend him.
Explusion would allow Gov. Peter Shumlin to name a replacement. Suspension means Franklin County will be represented by one senator instead of two until McAllister’s legal case is resolved, which could be well after the session ends.
A group of constituents from Franklin County is expected to come to Montpelier today in a show of support for the suspension. Sue Prent, a resident of St. Albans, says she and others have gathered hundreds of signatures for a petition calling for McAllister’s resignation. The senator has refused to resign and is expected to be present this week in the Statehouse.
On Thursday, Gov. Peter Shumlin will give his State of the State address. The governor, who announced he is retiring from office at the end of this year, is not expected to introduce big new initiatives. Instead, it’s likely he will sound familiar themes on the proposals he has pursued since he took office in 2010.
“There won’t be any big initiatives,” Shumlin told reporter Kevin O’Connor when asked for specifics. “It will be about completing what we promised to deliver.”
In terms of media coverage, Shumlin’s speech will be overshadowed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s event in Burlington Thursday night which has generated three spontaneous protests promoted on social media.
In the meantime, lawmakers will begin to get about their business. In committee, where all the work gets done, representatives and senators will begin immediately to discuss pressing issues that face the state: school spending caps, the opiate crisis and budget woes.
The week winds up on Friday with a House hearing on a controversial topic: whether ATVs should have designated trails on state land. My bet is many Vermonters will care more about this issue than anything else discussed in the Statehouse this week.
