Thursday, May 28, 2015
“I’m certainly considering it,” Scott said, adding, “I know I have to make a decision by the end of the year.”
The state’s highest-ranking Republican has been lieutenant governor for four and a half years. He was a state senator for 10 years before that. He’s widely seen as the Vermont Republican Party’s strongest hope for challenging whoever runs for governor next year as a Democrat.
Scott, 56, of Berlin, said his decision will not depend on whether three-term incumbent Democrat Peter Shumlin runs for reelection. “This is a decision I’ll have to make regardless of Gov. Shumlin’s decision,” he said.
Tags: Phil Scott , Peter Shumlin , Vermont politics , election 2016 , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
McAllister was paid the standard legislative weekly salary of $676.56 for the weeks of May 3-16, according to the state Human Resources Department. The legislative session ended May 16.
McAllister, reached by phone at his Highgate home Wednesday, said he hadn't thought about the pay because it's automatically deposited. "I certainly don't want it," he said. "I wasn't there."
Legislators are automatically paid $1,353.12 biweekly during the five-month legislative session, unless they alert the state to stop the pay. Legislators are under no obligation to do so if they are absent from the Statehouse, but some do.
Tags: Norm McAllister , Vermont legislature , sexual assault , Image , Web Only
In the footage, obtained by a hidden camera in a hotel bar, the lawmaker's face is blurred. The story does not identify him by name. But his voice is unmistakable: that of Rep. Bob Helm (R-Fair Haven).
"It was me, unknowingly being recorded and photographed," says Helm, who serves as ALEC's Vermont state chair. "I had no idea. But whatever I said, I can go to bed with it. I can sleep fine. It was the truth."
Helm's 50-second cameo comes near the end of a six-and-a-half-minute piece documenting ALEC's role in drafting and promoting state legislation friendly to its corporate sponsors. In the story, WXIA-TV chief investigative reporter Brendan Keefe attempts to cover a recent ALEC retreat in Savannah, but he's rebuffed and eventually kicked out of the hotel.
In footage obtained the night before his unceremonious departure, Keefe captures Helm explaining how such conferences are financed.
Tags: Bob Helm , ALEC , Howard Dean , Image , Video , Web Only
Sunday, May 17, 2015
After weeks spent castigating the Vermont legislature for raising too much revenue and cutting too little spending, the third-term Democrat opted Saturday to forgo a messy veto fight with leaders of his own party. With just a few concessions in hand, he sealed a deal with House and Senate Democrats early Saturday afternoon, clearing a path to adjournment later that night.
In a closing address to the Vermont House, Shumlin put a brave face on a legislative session marked by his diminished influence over a Statehouse in which he has served for decades.
"Thank you for having the courage to come together to solve the problems that Vermonters sent [us] here to do," Shumlin told a partially filled House gallery. "Good work. Drive carefully."
With that, at 11:04 p.m., House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) gaveled out one of the strangest sessions in recent memory.
Tags: Vermont legislature , adjournment , Peter Shumlin , John Campbell , Shap Smith , Image , Web Only
Saturday, May 16, 2015
"You will be an extraordinarily tough act to follow," said Rep. Susan Hatch Davis (P-Washington), who represents Milne's hometown of Washington.
After the announcement, House members gave Milne a lengthy, standing ovation.
Tags: Don Milne , Bill Magill , Scott Milne , house clerk , Image , Web Only
Half a day after legislative leaders threatened to send Gov. Peter Shumlin a tax package he would surely veto, all sides stepped back from the brink Saturday afternoon.
Shumlin, who was described by legislators as disengaged from negotiations Friday, spent Saturday morning working toward a compromise with House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) and Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell (D-Windsor). At 1:50 p.m., the three men emerged from the governor’s office to announce they’d reached a deal on a $30 million tax bill.
“Everyone’s given a little,” Shumlin said, standing side-by-side with his erstwhile adversaries. “I think it’s an incredibly sensible plan.”
Having struck a deal, the trio said they believed they could muster the votes for passage later Saturday and adjourn until next January.
Tags: Peter Shumlin , Vermont legislature , Shap Smith , John Campbell , Image , Web Only
Shumlin has spent weeks urging the House and Senate to trim their budget proposals and ditch income and sales tax hikes he opposes. But after a long day of closed-door meetings throughout the Statehouse, legislative negotiators unveiled a $30 million tax package at 10:30 p.m. that did not appear to meet with his approval.
Asked if he expected Shumlin to veto the plan, House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown) said, "You know, I'm eternally optimistic, but perhaps it is unwarranted in this instance."
The governor himself remained out of view Friday, hunkered down in his ceremonial Statehouse office for much of the afternoon and evening. Members of his staff roamed the Statehouse halls but did not appear heavily engaged in deliberations with legislative leaders. The governor's spokesman, Scott Coriell, said he would not comment on the plan until Saturday.
Shortly before midnight, a House and Senate conference committee signed off on next year's $5.4 billion budget. Those charged with finalizing the tax bill and a health care bill left the Statehouse for the night without formally agreeing to either item. But Smith said he believed the legislature might still meet its goal of adjourning Saturday night.
Tags: Shap Smith , John Campbell , Peter Shumlin , Tim Ashe , Janet Ancel , Image , Web Only
Friday, May 15, 2015
Friday, Rep. Patrick Brennan (R-Colchester) spent a fair bit of time buttonholing senators, trying to find new life for a bill that would legalize the use of gun suppressors. The devices — also known as silencers — can prevent hearing damage and make peace with shooting-range neighbors, he argued to any senator who would listen.
The measure had been on an economic development bill that the House passed, but was jettisoned in that bill's conference committee. Brennan wasn't giving up.
Tags: Vermont legislature , gun suppressors , Image , Web Only
The Senate said no. The House, yes. Friday afternoon, the Senate won.
A House-Senate conference committee reached agreement on a change in the law that says as of July 1, drivers may not use hand-held electronic devices even while stopped in traffic, a loophole that slipped through last year’s hand-held cellphone ban.
“If we’re going to ban texting, why not do the whole thing?” said Sen. Dick Mazza (D-Grand Isle), chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. “To me, it’s more dangerous at intersections to check your phone, because people are crossing the street.”
Tags: cellphone ban , motor vehicle laws , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ former chief of staff, will serve as his campaign manager. Phil Fiermonte, the senator's state director and top political aide, will act as field director.
Sanders' staffing announcement comes weeks after he announced his plan to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. He has scheduled a May 26 campaign kickoff in Burlington.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Phil Fiermonte , Jeff Weaver , 2016 , Presidential Campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only