Daily Archives: April 6, 2023

Sometimes, the Lobbyists Don’t Win

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This column regularly bemoans the influence of lobbyists in our Statehouse. It’s less about overt corruption and more about relationships and the difficulty faced by unstaffed part-time lawmakers in assessing complicated issues.

But this week has brought us a couple of cases in which the Legislature — so far — has resisted the blandishments of the Folks In Smart Suits. First, the state Senate has unanimously approved a bill to ban PFAS and other toxic chemicals from a range of products. Second, a bill to establish a Right to Repair for agricultural and forestry equipment has made it through a House committee. Both bills represent modest but measurable victories for consumers over industry.

(And let me note that we may not have heard about either action if not for VTDigger’s Final Reading, which provides a valuable space for coverage of legislative happenings that might not warrant standalone treatment.)

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The Police Protect Their Own, Part Eleventy-Billion

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The guy responsible for this little piece of… art… has been allowed to leave his post at the Vermont State Police with a face-saving resignation. And that doesn’t sit well with Nancy Sheahan, the longtime head of the State Police Advisory Commission, a body not known for taking a harsh line against the Beings in Blue.

The background: In early February it came to light that state troopers had used racist, ableist and misogynist language while playing a rap battle-inspired computer game. After an initial hiccup, VSP Chief Jennifer Morrison launched an internal investigation. A month and a half later two of the troopers — Nathan Greco and Nathan Jensen — resigned, which is lightning speed for a situation like this. The VSP described the resignations as “voluntary,” but added that the SPAC had agreed with Morrison that the troopers’ actions warranted discipline “up to and including termination.”

Now comes Sheahan, calling bullshit. The Commission issued a statement on Tuesday saying that the troopers should have been fired outright. VTDigger reports that Sheahan said “it was atypical for her and her colleagues to make such a public statement,” which, no shit, Sherlock. “But, she said, ‘We felt really strongly about this case, and we wanted it out there how we viewed it and what advice we offered.'”

In other words, Morrison let her two former employees off easy and tried to use the Commission as cover. Slick.

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