SACRAMENTO—CALPIRG released its scorecard today for the 120 members of the California legislature. Eleven Assembly members and fourteen Senators received an “A” for scores between 90% and 100%. The average score in the Senate was 61% and the average Assembly score was 59%.
“With so many powerful special interests lobbying in Sacramento, CALPIRG is a voice for the public on issues including health care and prescription drug reforms, consumer protections, efficient, clean transportation, and good government. We applaud and thank the twenty-six legislators who received an “A”, because they consistently put the public interest ahead of special interests,” said Pedro Morillas CALPIRG Legislative Advocate.
The scorecards enable California voters to learn more about their elected officials’ voting records, giving them the information needed to praise or criticize their actions from the previous year. CALPIRG makes the scorecards available to the public via our member newsletter, our email list, our citizen outreach staff, and our Website. Among the legislation included were bills to reform California’s health insurance system (AB 8, SB 840), reduce risks for patients taking prescription drugs (SB 606, SB 472), and provide new consumer protections in the marketplace (AB 1673, SB 250). Additionally, CALPIRG scored two budget trailer bills, one which significantly cut public transit funding (SB 79) and another that, if passed, would have enacted new corporate tax breaks (SB 98).
“With the second year of the legislative session already underway, CALPIRG looks forward to working with legislators this year to continue advancing health care reforms, preventing another mortgage meltdown, and investing in world-class public transit,” said Morillas.
The “A” List:
Senator Elaine Alquist
Senator Gilbert Cedillo
Senator Ellen Corbett
Senator Denise Ducheny
Senator Dean Florez
Senator Christine Kehoe
Senator Alan Lowenthal
Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod
Senator Jenny Oropeza
Senator Alex Padilla
Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas
Senator Gloria Romero
Senator Jack Scott
Senator Darrell Steinberg
Assemblymember Jim Beall
Assemblymember Mark DeSaulnier
Assemblymember Mike Feuer
Assemblymember Mary Hayashi
Assemblymember Jared Huffman
Assemblymember Dave Jones
Assemblymember John Laird
Assemblymember Mark Leno
Assemblymember Gene Mullin
Assemblymember Ira Ruskin
Assemblymember Sandré Swanson
Scorecard-Assembly_legalsize.xls