Senate committee hears legal, operational questions about letting assistant attorneys general unionize

Sarah London, chief assistant attorney general at the Vermont Attorney General's Office, told the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee on March 18 that extending collective-bargaining rights to assistant attorneys general (AAGs) raises a web of legal and operational questions that the Legislature would need to address.

"I am the chief assistant attorney general at the Vermont Attorney General's Office, and I am in what is currently the only classified lawyer position in all of the executive branch of state government," London said, describing the historical uniqueness of the role and the statutes that govern it.

London told senators the statutes that structure AAGs' status — including 3 V.S.A. §153, which says AAGs "serve at the pleasure of the attorney general" and directs that salaries be set by the attorney general "in consultation with the governor," and 3 V.S.A. §311, which governs pay plans for executive-branch lawyers — could require reconciliation if the Legislature expands collective bargaining to cover AAGs. She said the chief assistant position was created by statute in the mid-20th century and has been held by just three people.

Why it matters: changing whether AAGs may bargain collectively…