Montpelier, Vt. - Some Vermont lawmakers say there is some funny business going on at the State House these days.
"There's nothing worse from my position to have a member come up and say, ok, what's in this, and not really know. And then have to have them vote on something that they don't really know what it includes," Rep. Don Turner (R) said.
Some Vermont lawmakers are tacking last minute bills onto already existing ones. With only two weeks left in the session, that means these add-ons could go unnoticed or misunderstood.
"It gets through, we have no checks and balances, and then all the sudden we all look bad," Turner said.
Some examples...
The decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana was added on to a prescription drug bill.
And, the physicians assisted death legislation was attached to a tanning bill. That bill died in the Senate.
Lawmakers say there are other problems, too.
"There's sometimes where people get up and they feel like they have to talk on every bill," Senate President Pro Tem John Campbell said.
Campbell is talking about some freshman Senators. He would not say who but he did blame them for stalling the Senate which is faced with a bill back-log right now.
"That has been caused probably by some individuals who thought that it was more necessary to hear themselves on TV or see their names in the press," Campbell said.
