NORFOLK, Va. _ More than a month after announcing they would give the two women accusing Virginia's lieutenant governor of sexual assault a public platform to tell their sides of the story, House Republicans say that hearing still hasn't been scheduled because Democrats aren't on board.
The Virginia General Assembly has been under pressure to act since the allegations against Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax first emerged in February. The two women, Vanessa Tyson and Meredith Watson, have publicly requested the opportunity to speak in front of lawmakers, most of whom have called on Fairfax to resign.
But Fairfax _ who will preside over the Senate Wednesday as the legislature considers bills vetoed or amended by the governor _ isn't under criminal investigation. And according to the accusers, the assaults happened years before he entered political office in Virginia. Legislators have been perplexed with how to move forward.
House Democrats say criminal investigations in Massachusetts and North Carolina _ where Tyson and Watson, respectively, say the sexual assaults occurred _ should be conducted before the Virginia legislature gets involved.
But House Republicans _ who hold the majority _ say it's the legislature's responsibility to let the women be heard, and Democrats are refusing to participate.
Del. Rob Bell, a Republican who chairs the Courts of Justice committee, proposed a 10-person subcommittee, with five representatives from each party, to hear testimony from the two women and Fairfax.
In a March 25 letter to Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, the minority leader, Bell outlined a proposal for a two-day hearing where Tyson, Watson and Fairfax would be sworn in and able to testify for 30 minutes each, and then each party would have an hour to ask them questions. The "witnesses," as Bell called them, could also bring additional witnesses to testify for 20 minutes each, with 20 minutes per witness allotted for questions.
Bell called it a "bipartisan approach" and told Filler-Corn he'd be open to any other ways for the legislature to hear from the accusers and Fairfax.
"The goal is to allow all three a chance to be heard and taken seriously, as requested," he concluded in the letter.
Filler-Corn reiterated Democrats' position in her response and said Bell's plan raised concerns about partiality.
"All of the individuals involved deserve a non-partisan process in which to testify," she wrote on March 31. "We do not have the confidence that such a hearing, in the House of Delegates, as that proposed in your letter would be able to deliver justice and due process to all involved."
Instead, she said Democrats were open to hiring a third-party group to run a hearing.
Both women have resurfaced in the news lately, granting interviews to CBS' Gayle King. Tyson, a politics professor, also recently penned an article on the personal impact of sexual assault. In the article, she outlines her own experiences being sexually abused by her father as a child.
In a statement, Speaker of the House Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, said it appeared Tyson and Watson "will be denied an opportunity to be heard in a bipartisan hearing" because Democrats refused to participate.
"We stand ready to proceed, and hope that our Democratic colleagues reconsider the consequences of their decision," he said.
