ACLU accuses Vt. health commissioner of violating open meeting law

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – The American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont says Vermont’s health commissioner broke the law, and now Gov. Phil Scott is pushing back.

This dispute surrounds recommendations from a government panel over whether to create so-called safe injection sites.

The Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee is responsible for divvying up Vermont’s share of funds from opioid manufacturers. In late December, the committee finalized its recommendations, which include putting over $2.5 million toward safe injection sites—places where people can consume illicit drugs under medical supervision—aimed at preventing fatal overdoses.

But through a public records request, the ACLU obtained emails from top Scott administration officials, and they say Commissioner Mark Levine—who is a nonvoting member on the commission—removed the recommendation without warning a new meeting or taking a vote from the committee.

They allege Levine violated open meeting law and went around the panel.

“It’s concerning from an open government perspective, but it also represents a power grab in a process that the legislature has clearly set out is meant to take advantage of a certain set of views and expertise that the Legislature has not received their considered judgment of,” ACLU Vermont Staff Attorney Harrison Stark said.

The Vermont House passed a bill that would create safe injection sites, which the governor has been opposed to and has said he would veto.

A spokesperson for the health department highlighted Levine’s commitment to public health and treating opioid use disorder and called the ACLU’s letter disheartening.

“If the Administration is determined to undermine the authorization of overdose prevention centers, which data suggest will improve a seemingly insoluble public health crisis, then they must do so openly, in the light of day. No one is served by this sort of maneuvering,” Sen. Phil Baruth, D-Vt. President Pro Tem, said in response to the situation.

The governor’s office responded, saying the accusations of impropriety against Levine are without basis and he has the authority to make recommendations on the budget to the Legislature.

“Some in the Majority of the Legislature and their advocate-activist allies are flailing and desperate to distract Vermonters from the serious challenges we face that they helped create, like the property tax fiasco staring us down,” said Scott, R-Vermont.

It is unclear what happens now with this dispute over Levine’s actions, but the Legislature is still pushing forward with creating these safe injection sites and the governor is still threatening to veto it.

Click here to read the ACLU’s letter to Commissioner Levine regarding the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee.