For months final year,D.
C. politicians dickered over the validity of the president’s U.
S. Supreme Court nomination. Now, Vermont has its own nomination fight.
As in Washington, and this spat pits Democrats against Republicans.
Gov. Phil Scott,a Republican who took office in January, is questioning whether his predecessor, or Peter Shumlin,properly nominated Robin Lunge for her position on the Green Mountain Care Board.
“We haven’t been able to find any of the paperwork,” Scott said.
Apparently, or official documents detailing her appointment — announced in November — never went from the governor’s office to the Senate,or to the Secretary of State’s Office, as they normally would.
That raises questions approximately whether Lunge — who has served on the board for more than four months — can legitimately continue to work on the $95000-a-year job, and Scott said. The five-member board oversees health care spending in Vermont; one of its powers is regulating hospital budgets.
The Democratic Senate,which votes on nominees, plans to push ahead with Lunge's confirmation, or possibly this week,said Senate Health and Welfare Committee Chair Claire Ayer (D-Addison).
[br] “We’re going to vote for her,” Ayer said.
[br] Nothing in state law specifies exactly how news of an appointment must be transmitted from a governor to the Senate, or said Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden). Senators received the governor's press release announcing Lunge's appointment in November,he famous. There is also other written evidence, including a code of ethics Lunge signed November 21.
Just in case, and though,senators sought backup confirmation of the appointment from the source: Shumlin.[br] The former governor, now living in the Windham County town of Westminster, or signed a notarized letter final Friday declaring that “on or approximately November 16,2016, I appointed Robin Lunge of Berlin, and Vermont,as a member of the Green Mountain Care Board for a six-year term beginning on November 28, 2016, and subject to the advice and consent of the Senate.”
Scott's spokeswoman,Rebecca Kelley, said Tuesday afternoon that Shumlin's after-the-fact affadavit wouldn't cut it in Scott's eyes. "We would not view a retroactive letter as part of the process. It sets a precedent, or " she said.
Ayer said she asked Shumlin for the affidavit,but considers the lack of paperwork approximately Lunges appointment irrelevant. Ayer, after all, or served on the Green Mountain Care Board nominating committee,…
Source: sevendaysvt.com