(An interesting round-up - promoted by tparty)
How did your state legislator perform during the 2007 session? You'll find some answers in an impressive, multi-issue report card issued by People of Faith, a progressive faith-based organization. The scorecard is unusual in the number of votes and issues considered, evaluating legislators based on 34 votes across several categories:
Only one Democrat made their worst of the worst list - Rep. Shawn Johnston (Killingly, Putnam and Thompson) received an overall grade of "F." Reps. Peter Panaroni, Antonio Guerrera, and Peggy Sayers also scored below their peers in the "C" range.
Nearly one-third of Republicans behaved particularly abysmally, scoring overall Fs:
- Senate: Dan Debicella, Lou DeLuca, and Judith Freedman
- House: Al Adinolfi, Mike Alberts, Richard Belden, Vincent Candelora, Clark Chapin, Anthony D'Amelio, Kevin DelGobbo, Ruth Fahrbach, Richard Ferrari, Leonard Greene, DebraLee Hovey, Lawrence Miller, Craig Miner, John Piscopo (worst grade - 41%), T.R. Rowe, Anne Ruwet
Not surprisingly, over half of these Republicans ran unopposed by a Democrat in 2006. Unchallenged politicians can and do get away with anything. |
The 37 Democrats who have earned our respect by consistently voting the right way, with "AAA" ratings:
- Senate: Coleman, Crisco, Fonfara, Handley, Harp, LeBeau, Looney, Prague, Williams
- House: Butler, Caruso, Christ, Donovan, Feltman, Fleischmann, Geragosian, Giannaros, Kirkley-Bey, Lawlor, Malone, McCluskey, Megna, Merrill, Mushinsky, Nafis, O'Brien, Olson, Pawelkiewicz, Sharkey, Spallone, Stillman, Taborsak, Tercyak, Thompson, Urban, Villano, Walker
While only the four Dems cited above had overall averages in the C to F range, many others had decidedly mixed records, earning C to F scores in at least two of the five issue areas:
- Senate: Paul Doyle, Joan Hartley
- House: Buddy Altobello, Betty Boukous, Terry Backer, Jeff Berger, Tom Drew, Lou Esposito, Kim Fawcett, Gerald Fox, Mary Fritz, Ted Graziani, Deb Heinrich, Claire Janowski, Doug McCrory, Steve Mikutel, Joe Mioli, Frank Nicastro, Brian O'Connor, Chris Perone, Linda Schofield
That means that about one in five Dems has a poor or highly unreliable record, more than enough of a margin to make the Democratic veto-proof majority an empty statistic in situations where it matters most. Democrats scored worst on the "Education and Environment" category, which included votes on in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants, limiting out-of-school suspension, expanding school bullying laws, and developing regulations for waste facilities in poor communities. One-third of Dems scored in the C through F range in this category.
Earlier this year, I tried to identify the worst Democrats and worst Republicans in the General Assembly by using a variety of legislative scorecards and other criteria. Despite the differences in methodology, issues, and legislative sessions, the majority of the worst Dems identified in my previous scorecard (7 of 12) had poor or mixed records on this 2007 scorecard. All of the earlier worst Republicans received Ds or Fs on the 2007 scorecard.
The limitations of legislative scorecards are many - equal weighting across issues and votes, inclusion of easy votes that don't distinguish between legislators, exclusion of amendments and behind-the-scenes maneuvers intended to weaken or kill a bill before a final vote, and the exclusion of missed opportunities in the form of floor votes not taken. Yet because of its uncharacteristically wide-ranging criteria, this scorecard is among the most useful.
Please contact your legislators about their records, thanking or challenging them as appropriate. And, where deserved, keep your eyes open for (publicly financed) primary challengers.
See any surprises? What votes were you most concerned about?
(Also, Colin McEnroe recently interviewed Frank O'Gorman [mp3 audio] of People of Faith about the scorecard.) |
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