A lot has happened since Vermont Sen. Norm McAllister was arrested on felony sexual assault charges.
First, there was word he'd resign – but that didn't happen.
Then there was pressure from lawmakers for him to step down, and yesterday a Vermont Senate panel stripped the Franklin County Republican of all his committee assignments.
McAllister has pleaded not guilty and it appears he isn't interested in resigning his Senate seat - which has lawmakers exploring their options.
Paul Heintz, political editor at Seven Days, joined VPR to talk about the events surrounding McAllister this week.
On the Legislature’s reaction to the charges
“Well I think the first reaction last Thursday evening, when Sen. McAllister was arrested just outside the Statehouse, was one of shock and bewilderment,” says Heintz. “This is somebody that I don’t think a lot of people suspected may have been involved in that sort of activity.”
Heintz says since the initial arrest, lawmakers have been trying to focus on their work with the session coming to a close. “I think people are trying to keep focused on that and not think about this too much, but it’s hard to ignore,” says Heintz.
On whether other lawmakers residing with McAllister should have been aware of his behavior
“One of the questions that many people in Montpelier are asking right now is, “Were they okay with this, should they have said something or done something?”’ Says Heintz. “It’s worth keeping in mind that a couple of Senators have described this woman looking as if she’s 12- or 13-years-old … At least one state representative was aware that something was going on, although that state representative says that he had no reason to suspect it was anything non-consensual.”
On Mcallister’s refusal to resign and removal of Senate committee assignments
Heintz says that many in Montpelier were hoping that McAllister would step down, but that he made it clear on Thursday that he had no intention to do so in the near future. The reporter adds that Lt. Gov. Phil Scott said that the one thing they could do was strip him of his two committee assignments.
"Now this doesn't really have much practical impact at the moment because the legislature is winding down, these committees won’t really be meeting. I think it's more symbolic than anything else."
“Now this doesn’t really have much practical impact at the moment because the legislature is winding down, these committees won’t really be meeting. I think it’s more symbolic than anything else,” says Heintz.
Can the Senate do anything to remove McAllister from his position?
“Well, the Vermont constitution essentially empowers the Vermont Senate to expel its own members,” says Heintz. “But it’s unclear whether that power has been exercised ever – certainly not recently.” Heintz adds that there is no clear procedure by which the Senate could go about removing McAllister from his position. “It’s certainly possible, I suppose, that the Senate could be called back at some point this summer to deal with it, but it’s not really clear exactly how that would work,” he says.
Heintz adds that Sen. McAllister has said “basically nothing” about the charges since they were filed last Thursday.