Montpelier
Last November, Shumlin appointed Robin Lunge to a six-year term on the Green Mountain Care Board. The board is one of the most powerful regulatory bodies in Vermont, and wields enormous control over the state’s $5 billion health care industry. That means there’s a lot at stake when it comes to deciding who sits on that five-person board, and Republican Gov. Phil Scott is seeking to oust his Democratic predecessor’s most recent appointment.
Shumlin’s choice was a controversial one: Lunge was the longtime director of health care reform in the Shumlin administration, and she helped spearhead the governor’s push for single-payer health care.
Though Lunge has deep knowledge of the health care universe in Vermont, critics feared that she would bring ideological baggage to the regulatory landscape. And now, a controversy over procedure may see Lunge’s tenure cut short.
“It came to our attention that our office had no record (that) the appointment had been made or submitted to the Senate in accordance with the statutory law,” said Rebecca Kelley, Scott’s communications director.
Under state law, the governor has to officially notify the Vermont Senate of his appointment, so that the Senate can then move forward with a confirmation vote. The Scott administration said there’s no evidence that notification ever occurred.
The Senate is now scrambling to determine how to move forward.
Senate Committee on Health and Welfare Sen. Claire Ayer, D-Addison, said she recently tried to initiate the process needed to move forward with that confirmation vote.
“I had no reason to expect that there was anything wrong with the paperwork or anything like that until just recently, when I asked our staff person to find the paperwork, because we were all set to recommend (Lunge’s) confirmation on the floor of the Senate,” Ayer said.
Senate staff was unable to find paperwork documenting that notification. Kelley said that’s because it doesn’t appear to exist. She said the administration has searched for records of the appointment notification at the Secretary of State’s Office, the state archives and at the Office of the Secretary of the Senate.
“Without that proper documentation, without following the very specific process that’s outlined in statute, it is very concerning and we feel if we aren’t able to find those original documents, it does raise some legal questions,” Kelley said.
She said those legal questions are severe enough to warrant starting the nominating process from scratch, and asking the Green Mountain Care Board nominating committee to send Scott a new slate of candidates. It’s a process that almost would certainly result in the appointment of someone other than Lunge.
“It’s potentially a slippery slope if we don’t follow the process as described, and there is a very specific process here,” Kelley said.
The implications for the future of health care reform in Vermont are considerable. The board currently has two vacant positions, both of which Scott will get to fill with a candidate of his choosing. If he ends up replacing Lunge, it would give Scott’s appointments majority control of the five-person board just three months into his term.
Ayer said she’s working to avoid that outcome, and that she recently spoke with Shumlin.
Judy Henkin, general counsel for the Green Mountain Care board, said there’s no question that Lunge’s work has been legitimate up until this point. If a governor appoints a board member while the Senate is not in session, as was the case with Lunge, then that member can participate in board business, and vote on binding decisions, even if she hasn’t gotten a Senate confirmation vote.
But state law dictates that a confirmation vote be held before the end of the Senate session following the governor’s appointment.