Legislative regular session wrapup and rankings: Senate members and governor

This week is the second part of revealing the 2007 Louisiana Legislature scorecard, ranking each member on an ideology scale. The lowest score of 0 represents extreme liberalism/populism from a legislator, while a score of 100 shows the most conservative/reformer sentiment.

Important votes where there was an ideological issue at stake and where there was some minimal lack of consensus in the vote were chosen, each for members of the House, the Senate, and for the governor. This year’s choices particularly were challenging since there was less division than usual especially in the Senate because of the tremendous budgetary surplus. This week’s edition reviews the Senate and Governor Kathleen Blanco; listed here are the key votes assessed and their weighings, given to the relative importance of the vote compared to others in the session (unless noted, vote is for final passage prior to any conference):

HB 25 (5 percent) – broadens the women’s “right to know” provisions in pre-natal counseling to include information that the fetus may feel pain if aborted. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

HB 407 (5 percent) – continues adding an extra fee onto drivers’ licenses for litter reduction. Voting “no” is conservative/reform.

HB 436 (5 percent) – reforms the indigent defense system to make it more efficient and cost-effective. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

SB 195 (5 percent) – attempts to privatize the state-owned insurer. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

SCR 76 (20 percent) – votes to approve a large amount of spending on the rebuilding of the Medical Center of Louisiana New Orleans. Voting “no” is conservative/reform.

HCR 10 second vote (20 percent) – vote to exceed the state’s constitutional spending cap. Voting “no” is conservative/reform.

SB 22 (10 percent) – would have relaxed the almost-impossible recall petition standards for elected officials. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

SB 40 (10 percent) – would have relaxed ethics standards relative to casting votes. Voting “no” is conservative/reform.

SB 320 (10 percent) – would have relaxed ballot security standards for elections. Voting “no” is conservative/reform.

SB 365 – (10 percent) – would have changed capital budgeting procedures to bring more transparency and efficiency to the outlay process. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

(As always, if a senator asked for leave, as did occur on several occasions, the score was adjusted for that. If leave was not asked for, it was counted as a vote not for the conservative/reform side.)

And thus the ranking is:
Quinn 100 Republican
Cassidy 95 Republican
Michot 88 Republican
Lentini 84 Republican
Malone 75 Republican
Romero, C 70 Republican
Schedler 68 Republican
Barham 65 Republican
Hollis 65 Republican
Kostelka 60 Republican
Amedee 56 Democrat
Ullo 55 Democrat
Adley 50 Democrat
Mount 50 Democrat
Chaisson 45 Democrat
McPherson 45 Democrat
Nevers 45 Democrat
Cain 40 Republican
Cheek 40 Republican
Ellington 40 Democrat
Smith, M 40 Democrat
Theunissen 40 Republican
Dupre 35 Democrat
Gautreaux, N 35 Democrat
Jones 35 Democrat
Murray 35 Democrat
Shepherd 33 Democrat
Boasso 31 Democrat
Cravins 31 Democrat
Duplessis 31 Democrat
Fontenot 30 Republican
Gautreaux, B 30 Democrat
Broome 25 Democrat
Fields 25 Democrat
Jackson, L 25 Democrat
Marionneaux 20 Democrat
Heitmeier 15 Democrat
Bajoie 6 Democrat
Hines 5 Democrat

It’s difficult to make comparisons because of the different kinds of instruments and weighings used, but with that in mind, the Senate actually turned up a little less liberal/populist than the House, with an average score around 44. As in the House, a big difference emerged between Republicans and Democrats, with the typical Republican scoring a 70 and the typical Democrat a 23. Sen. Julie Quinn got the only ultimate conservative/reformer score of 100, while Pres. Don Hines nearly did the opposite, recording a score of 5. The highest Democrat score was a 56, exceeding only four Republicans.

And, finally, on to Gov. Blanco. She was graded on HB 25 (10 percent), HB 407 (15 percent), HB 436 (10 percent), SB 195 (10 percent), and four other bills:

HB 273 (15 percent) – weakens campaign finance laws by allowing candidates not to report their own contributions to their candidacies

HB 960 (10 percent) – abolishes the Insurance Rating Commission

SB 1 (15 percent) – makes cosmetic changes to indigent health care by the state

SB 341 (15 percent) – allows non-taxpayers to receive state tax dollars just for filing

A perfect conservative/reform score would be for her to sign HB 25, HB 436, HB 960, and SB 195, while vetoing HB 273, HB 407, SB 1, and SB 341. She signed all of them except SB 195 giving her a score of 30, not much above the Democrat average for the House and the Senate, although again different indicators were used making comparisons inexact.

Legislative regular session wrapup and rankings: House members

This week is the first part of revealing the 2007 Louisiana Legislature scorecard, ranking each member on an ideology scale. The lowest score of 0 represents extreme liberalism/populism from a legislator, while a score of 100 shows the most conservative/reformer sentiment.

Important votes where there was an ideological issue at stake and where there was some minimal lack of consensus in the vote were chosen, each for members of the House, the Senate, and for the governor. This year’s choices particularly were challenging since there was less division than usual especially in the Senate because of the tremendous budgetary surplus. This week’s edition reviews the House; listed here are the key votes assessed and their weighings, given to the relative importance of the vote compared to others in the session (unless noted, vote is for final passage prior to any conference):

HB 25 (5 percent) – broadens the women’s “right to know” provisions in pre-natal counseling to include information that the fetus may feel pain if aborted. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

HB 407 (5 percent) – continues adding an extra fee onto drivers’ licenses for litter reduction. Voting “no” is conservative/reform.

HB 436 (5 percent) – reforms the indigent defense system to make it more efficient and cost-effective. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

SB 195 (5 percent) – attempts to privatize the state-owned insurer. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

SCR 76 (10 percent) – votes to approve a large amount of spending on the rebuilding of the Medical Center of Louisiana New Orleans. Voting “no” is conservative/reform.

HCR 10 second vote (15 percent) – vote to exceed the state’s constitutional spending cap. Voting “no” is conservative/reform.

HB 1 vote A11 (15 percent) – would have allowed state spending to use only 23 percent of the surplus. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

HB 1 vote A10B (15 percent) – would have stripped the bill of funding any vacant positions in state government. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

HB 1 vote A8C (15 percent) – would have stripped the bill of funding for salary increases for vacant positions in state government. Voting “yes” is conservative/reform.

HB 3 second vote for passage (10 percent) – to enable debt selling which conservatives/reformers had resisted in order to force compromise on less spending in HB 1. Voting “no” is conservative/reform.

(As always, if a representative asked for leave the score was adjusted for that. If leave was not asked for, it was counted as a vote not for the conservative/reform side. Also, only original votes, not those changed, were used. However, no House member asked for leave or changed these votes.)

And so the ranking is:

Bowler 100 Republican
Scalise 100 Republican
Schneider 100 Republican
Smiley 100 Republican
Alexander 95 Republican
Crowe 95 Republican
Geymann 95 Republican
Greene 95 Republican
Lancaster 95 Republican
Strain 95 Republican
Trahan 90 Republican
Tucker 90 Republican
Walsworth 90 Republican
Katz 85 Republican
Lorusso 85 Republican
Martiny 85 Republican
Beard 80 Republican
Kleckley 80 Republican
Morris 80 Republican
Powell, M 80 Republican
Waddell 80 Republican
Winston 80 Republican
Burns 75 Republican
Crane 75 Republican
Johns 75 Republican
Morrish 75 Republican
Toomy 75 Republican
Dove 70 Republican
LaBruzzo 70 Republican
Robideaux 70 Independent
Wooton 70 Republican
Erdey 65 Republican
Smith, JH 65 Republican
Pitre 60 Republican
Hutter 55 Republican
Powell, T 55 Republican
Lambert 50 Republican
Ansardi 45 Democrat
McVea 45 Republican
Montgomery 45 Republican
Romero, R 45 Democrat
Frith 40 Democrat
Hebert 40 Democrat
Kennard 35 Republican
Arnold 30 Democrat
Daniel 30 Republican
Downs 30 Republican
Faucheux 30 Democrat
Triche 30 Democrat
White 30 Republican
Richmond 25 Democrat
Alario 15 Democrat
Anders 15 Democrat
Badon 15 Democrat
Baldone 15 Democrat
Barrow 15 Democrat
Baudoin 15 Democrat
Carter, R 15 Democrat
Chandler 15 Democrat
Dartez 15 Democrat
Doerge 15 Democrat
Dorsey 15 Democrat
Durand 15 Democrat
Fannin 15 Democrat
Farrar 15 Democrat
Guillory, EL 15 Democrat
Guillory, EJ 15 Democrat
Guillory, M 15 Democrat
Heaton 15 Republican
Hill 15 Democrat
Kenney 15 Democrat
LaFleur 15 Democrat
McDonald 15 Democrat
Pinac 15 Democrat
Ritchie 15 Democrat
Salter 15 Democrat
Smith. JD 15 Democrat
St. Germain 15 Democrat
Thompson 15 Democrat
Townsend 15 Democrat
Williams 15 Democrat
Baylor 10 Democrat
Bruce 10 Democrat
Burrell 10 Democrat
Cazayoux 10 Democrat
Curtis 10 Democrat
Damico 10 Democrat
Gallot 10 Democrat
Harris 10 Democrat
Hunter 10 Democrat
Jefferson-Bullock 10 Democrat
LaFonta 10 Democrat
Marchand 10 Democrat
Morrell 10 Democrat
Odinet 10 Democrat
Pierre 10 Democrat
Smith, G 10 Democrat
Walker 10 Democrat
Carter, K 5 Democrat
DeWitt 5 Democrat
Gray 5 Democrat
Honey 5 Democrat
Jackson, M 5 Democrat
Quezaire 5 Democrat
Smith, JR 5 Democrat

The House average overall was a shade under 40, while Republicans averaged about 73, and the Democrats’ mean was around 15. It’s worth noting that among the two switchers from Democrat to Republican from last regular session to this, Alex Heaton was the lowest-scoring Republican at the Democrat average, while Billy Montgomery’s 45 tied him for fourth-lowest Republican and would have tied for highest among Democrats.

Next week’s edition takes a look at senators' and the governor’s scores.

Legislative regular session through Jun. 30

You can unclench your hands around your wallets, the Legislature is out of session. In a couple of weeks’ time I’ll report on the veto decisions and then give the rankings.

THIS WEEK FOR THE GOOD: HB 25 was concurred with by the House and sent to the governor; HB 113 was concurred with by the House and sent to the governor; HB 248 passed the Senate was sent to the governor; HB 365 was passed by the House and sent to the governor; HB 436 with minor amendments was passed by the Senate, was concurred with by the House, and sent to the governor; HB 614 with major amendments was passed by the Senate, concurred with by the House, and sent to the governor; HB 678 with major amendments was passed Senate, rejected by the House, went to conference, and was concurred with by the House and Senate; HB 730 was rejected by the House, went to conference, and was rejected by the House; HB 960 was rejected by the House, went to conference, was concurred with by the House and Senate, and sent to the governor; SB 98 was rejected by the Senate, went to conference, and was concurred with by the Senate and the House; SB 161 with minor amendments passed the House, was concurred with by the Senate, and sent to the governor; SB 195 was rejected by the Senate, went to conference, was concurred with by the Senate and House, and sent to the governor.

THIS WEEK FOR THE BAD: HB 273 was signed by the governor; HB 407 was signed by the governor; HB 962 with minor amendments was passed by the Senate, rejected by the House, went to conference, was concurred with by the House and Senate, and sent to the governor; HB 974 with minor amendments was passed by the Senate, rejected by the House, went to conference, was concurred with by the House and Senate, and sent to the governor; SB 1 was concurred with by House and sent to the governor.

SCORECARD:
Total House introductions: 975; total Senate introductions: 365.

Total House good bills: 33; total Senate good bills: 14.

Total House bad bills: 13; total Senate bad bills: 8.

Total House good bills heard in committee: 31; total Senate good bills heard in committee: 14.

Total House bad bills heard in committee: 11; total Senate bad bills heard in committee: 8.

Total House good bills passing committee: 15; total Senate good bills passing committee: 9.

Total House bad bills passing committee: 8; total Senate bad bills passing committee: 5.

Total House good bills passing the House: 14; total Senate good bills passing the Senate: 8.

Total House bad bills passing the House: 4; total Senate bad bills passing the Senate: 2.

Total House good bills passing Senate committee: 12; total Senate good bills passing House committee: 5.

Total House bad bills passing Senate committee: 2; total Senate bad bills passing House committee: 2

Total House good bills passing Senate: 10; total Senate good bills passing House: 3.

Total House bad bills passing Senate: 4; total Senate bad bills passing House: 1.

Total House good bills sent to governor: 9; total Senate good bills sent to governor: 3.

Total House bad bills sent to governor: 4; total Senate bad bills sent to governor: 1.

Total House bills signed by the governor: 2; total Senate bad bills signed by the governor: 0.