Monday, December 14, 2015
"No, I'm not resigning," he said Monday evening.
McAllister, who was charged with sexual assault last May, said he plans to show up at the Statehouse when the legislature reconvenes January 5 and take his seat on the Senate floor.
"I'm just going to do the job that I've done for the last 13 years. That's my intention," McAllister said. "I just go and do, you know, try to do the job I have been doing."
Whether McAllister will be permitted to do that job remains to be seen. As Seven Days reported Saturday, the Senate Rules Committee plans to meet Wednesday to take up a resolution penned by Senate Majority Leader Phil Baruth (D-Chittenden) to suspend McAllister with pay pending the resolution of a criminal trial scheduled for February. Such a resolution would require a majority vote of the full Senate.
McAllister said he doesn't plan to attend Wednesday's meeting because he has not been invited and isn't a member of the Rules Committee. He acknowledged that his return to the Senate in January would be "uncomfortable" and that he faces a "tough year." But he argued that he has an obligation to continue representing his constituents in the legislature's upper chamber.
"I don't know how many times I've had people come up to me in the last few months and tell me ... 'Hang in there. This isn't right what they're doin' to ya,'" McAllister said. "You know, they've looked at the charges and the things and they're sittin' there: 'No, no, we've known who you are and your history and this doesn't match up and hang in there. Don't let 'em beatcha down.' The majority of the people that I know have said that."
Tags: Norm McAllister , Image , Web Only
Problem is, according to state Auditor Doug Hoffer, such a ruling may never have been issued. DCF has no documentation of it and the feds say their policy is quite the opposite.
The so-called "phantom ruling" is but one example of sole-source contracting gone wild in state government, according to a new report issued Monday by Hoffer's office (PDF). Though state guidelines restrict such no-bid contracts to "extraordinary circumstances," the auditor found that 41 percent of the contracts signed by five agencies and departments last fiscal year were awarded without competition.
"The high frequency of sole-source contracts ... in this analysis raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the state’s contract management," Hoffer's office wrote in the report.
Tags: Doug Hoffer , sole-source contracts , no-bid contracts , Justin Johnson , Image , Web Only
Thursday, December 10, 2015
"David was not one of those fearful politicians," the Vermont Freedom to Marry board chair told an audience of 150 packed into the Burlington venue. "From the get-go, David was outspoken in his support of full marriage equality — not just a half-measure."
So against her organization's advice, he and fewer than two dozen others stood up on the floor of the House — where he then represented Burlington's Old North End — and voted to fully legalize gay marriage, not just civil unions.
"David was going to stand there and vote for marriage equality, whether we told him not to or not," Corbin said.
Fifteen years later, as Zuckerman formally kicked off his campaign for lieutenant governor, he and his supporters appeared intent on reminding voters that he is no Johnny-come-lately to progressive causes. As the Hinesburg farmer prepares to face off against two twenty-somethings and possibly a thirty-something in the Democratic primary, they argued that he's the one with the experience to get the job done.
Tags: cannabis related , David Zuckerman , lieutenant governor , Phil Baruth , Image , Web Only
Monday, December 7, 2015
“I am appalled that some are espousing the hate-filled view that a country as great as ours should have a religious litmus test," Leahy said in a written statement, citing what he called a 235-year history of religious freedom in the U.S. "I am stunned that some, appealing to fear and intolerance, want to end this legacy and are launching direct assaults on these American values."
Echoing the sentiment was Leahy's junior colleague, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.
“Demagogues throughout our history have attempted to divide us based on race, gender, sexual orientation or country of origin," Sanders said in a written statement. "Now, Trump and others want us to hate all Muslims. The United States is a great nation when we stand together. We are a weak nation when we allow racism and xenophobia to divide us.”
Tags: Senator , Donald Trump , Patrick Leahy , Bernie Sanders , presidential campaign , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Waterbury-based Keurig Green Mountain has agreed to be acquired by JAB Holding Co., the investment arm of a billionaire German family, the company announced Monday. The deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2016, is worth $13.9 billion.
The caffeine behemoth formerly known as Green Mountain Coffee Roasters will remain based in Waterbury, Keurig said in a press release, and "will continue to be operated independently by the company’s management team and employees.” The release did not indicate whether the deal would lead to staffing changes in Vermont, where it employs roughly 2,000 people and is one of the state’s largest businesses.
The company did not immediately return a call seeking comment. But according to Gov. Peter Shumlin, who spoke to Keurig president and CEO Brian Kelley from Paris Monday morning, the coffee chief told him “there are no plans for any reduction in workforce.”
“That is incredibly good news,” Shumlin said. “Whenever there is news like this about a major employer in Vermont, there is always apprehension. But after my conversations this morning, I am confident that today’s news represents an opportunity for Keurig Green Mountain and Vermont.”
JAB and its minority partners agreed to pay Keurig shareholders $92 per share, a 78 percent premium over its Friday closing price of $51.70. The deal, which was unanimously approved by Keurig's board of directors, would take the company private.
Tags: Keurig , Green Mountain Coffee Roasters , JAB , Image , Web Only
Friday, December 4, 2015
The leader of a statewide gun-control organization says she doesn't expect her group to fight for tougher gun laws during next year's legislative session, but she does expect to push the issue during Vermont's 2016 campaign season.
"We're definitely expecting to be involved in the election, supporting candidates who take a stand in support of gun violence prevention," Gun Sense Vermont founder Ann Braden said Friday.
That could prompt the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs, which supports gun rights, to make its first foray into electoral politics, according to vice president Evan Hughes.
"We're watching and observing what's going on with great interest," Hughes said of a burgeoning debate between Vermont's gubernatorial candidates about the state's gun laws. "The Federation has historically neither rated nor endorsed candidates. What happens in the 2016 election cycle remains to be seen."
Following last week's shooting at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter and Republican candidate Bruce Lisman expressed support for requiring that those who buy firearms in private sales and at gun shows undergo the same background checks as do those buying such weapons at gun stores. Democratic candidate Matt Dunne and Republican candidate Phil Scott, the lieutenant governor, said they don't support such measures.
Minter, a former state representative and transportation secretary, has since doubled down on her position. In an op-ed her campaign released Thursday, she cited Wednesday's mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., which killed 14 people, as further evidence that Vermont should make background checks universal.
Tags: Senator , Vermont , gun control , Ann Braden , Evan Hughes , Matt Dunne , Sue Minter , Bernie Sanders , Peter Shumlin , Miro Weinberger , gun control , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Gov. Peter Shumlin's budget writers and the Legislature's fiscal advisors identified Medicaid as the cause of most of the money troubles.
Of the $40 million of unplanned expenses in the current budget, $36 million is in Medicaid. That includes $10 million needed to cover a 53rd week of Medicaid payments. The Shumlin administration and the Legislature failed to plan for this expense in the budget bill enacted last spring.
Similarly, $53 million of next year's projected gap of $58 million is in the Medicaid program.
Medicaid is a subsidized health insurance program that has seen its rolls swell and use increase. The state budgeted $1.68 billion for Medicaid this year. The state's share of this cost is about $700 million, with the federal government picking up the tab for the rest.
The Shumlin Administration will present its plan to address the current budget gap on Dec. 14.
Tags: State budget , Medicaid , Justin Johnson , Tom Kavet , Don Turner , Heidi Scheuermann , Sarah Copeland Hanzas , Image , Web Only
Monday, November 30, 2015
Sanders, 74, was to be treated at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and was expected to return to his Senate duties Tuesday, Briggs said. The procedure was planned and was not expected to interfere with the senator's presidential campaign, according to the spokesman.
Sanders' office offered no further details.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , Recommended Reading , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
"I have personally satisfied my concerns about the process and I am comfortable with continuing with the process," he said. "I think it is safe and well-run and we should continue."
Like fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman and more than 30 governors across the country, Scott questioned the security of the program after the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, allegedly perpetrated by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
But as WPTZ's Stewart Ledbetter first reported Tuesday, Scott had a change of heart after taking part in a U.S. Department of State conference call last Friday and meeting with Vermont Department of Public Safety officials Tuesday in Waterbury. The meeting included DPS Commissioner Keith Flynn and Deputy Commissioner Joe Flynn.
"I learned a lot from [DPS officials] about where some of the security risks really are," he said, pointing to student visas and the Canadian border as areas of concern. "I came away being much more comfortable than I was and having a better understanding of what that process is. I've also reached out to the [Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program], hoping to meet with them as well."
Tags: Phil Scott , refugee resettlement , Syria , Matt Dunne , Vermont Democratic Party , Image , Web Only
Friday, November 20, 2015
But on Thursday, its 11,500-member New Hampshire affiliate broke ranks with top union brass and threw its support behind the Vermont independent.
Richard Gulla, president of the State Employees' Association/SEIU Local 1984, explained in a press release that the New Hampshire group's endorsement process proceeded separately from the international union's. A majority of the local's members backed Sanders, Gulla said, and its board of directors ratified their decision after meeting with the candidates.
“While we differ in our endorsement, we share the same values, hopes and dreams for our country,” Gulla said of the intra-union divide.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Presidential Campaign , SEIU , New Hampshire , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only