A Compilation of Various Ratings of the Voting Records of the Utah Legislature. A listing of other ratings may be found under links at the bottom of the blog.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Conservative Liberal Index 2007

The Conservative - Liberal Index
"by their Fruits shall ye know them"



Once again, the 2007 Voting Records of the Utah Legislature indicate there is a difference between Republicans and Democrats.


For simplicity, Conservatives may be defined as in favor of LIMITED Government and PROTECTION of INDIVIDUAL rights and Liberals as in favor of ACTIVIST Government and PROVISION of GROUP rights. The Conservative - Liberal Index (CLI) is a compiled aggregate of various ratings to determine who is "truly" Conservative or "really" Liberal.


The Most Conservative Award for the THIRD consecutive year goes to Rep. Morley at 87.1; with Honorable Mention to Representatives Tilton, Frank, Dougall, Lockhart, Donnelson, Wimmer, Herrod, Oda, and Newbold.


Leader in the Senate was Senator Dayton (moving from the House); she edged out Senators Stephenson and Madsen at the top of the Senate list. (All were above 75)

The Most Liberal Award goes to Rep. Becker, with several Democrats vying for that coveted title; with Senator McCoy winning the Senate.

In past years, ALL Republicans had achieved a CLI higher than ALL Democrats. This year, the two highest Democrat (Gowans and Hendrickson) had a higher CLI's than theTWO lowest ranking Republicans (Allen and McIff)

All told, we might count 45 Conservatives (above 60), 32 Liberals (below 40) and 27 Mugwumps. (2006 showed 41/31/33) Some might declare that a balanced, moderate group, others might yearn for stronger principles.

There was, again, a change in 2007 of groups "rating" our Utah legislators. The UAR (realtors) have so many legislative members, they may have decided they didn't need to rate them for the last couple years. Accountability Utah seems to be no longer accountable.
The Deseret News may have (thankfully) dropped its "effective legislator" based on passing the most bills. They did however adopt a (somewhat) less inane grading report based on attendance.

Votes were finally taken in the House, allowing UFIRE to offer a rating, for that body, on illegal alien coddling issues. (Credit being given for trying). The Sierra Club analysis of voting also demonstrates the philosophical differences and was also added to the CLI.
Rating groups used:

GrsRts = GrassRoots ( http://www.utahgrassroots.com/ ) claims: "Grass Roots is committed to the Principles of Limited Government, the State and U.S. Constitutions, Representative Government, Participatory Democracy, a Free Market Economy, Separation of Powers, and Family."

UEA = Utah Education Association ( http://www.utea.org/ ) declares their "mission is to advance the cause of public education by promoting quality teaching and learning and advocating effectively for the rights and interests of its members."


Gay = Gay Rights ( www.actwin.com/eatonohio/gay ) grades on the basis of hate crimes, same-sex marriage and "gay rights."

UTA = Utah Taxpayers Association (http://www.utahtaxpayers.org/ ) deals mainly with tax issues and "is a non-profit, non-partisan association working for greater efficiency and effectiveness in government."

UFIRE =Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement (http://www.ufire.net/) Illegal immigration issues

SIERRA = Sierra Club (http://www.utah.sierraclub.org/) "activists dedicated to preserving and enjoying the land and quality of life in Utah and the West. "
Each group has different criteria for their ratings, based on votes that the group consider favor or oppose "their" particular issues. Please refer to the individual websites for bills considered and rating considerations which were used.











GrsRts

GrsRts

UEA

GAY

UTA

UFIRE

Sierra

Life

2007

2006

2007

2007

2007

2007

CLI

HOUSE

REPUBLICAN

58

53

54

11

76

79

49

62

DEMOCRAT

22

23

88

65

58

42

74

27

SENATE

REPUBLICAN

56

55

33

28

86

47

63

DEMOCRAT

20

24

87

70

70

64

26


Utah Senate CLI 2007

The Conservative Liberal Index rating for the Utah Senate in 2007. (An asterisk * denotes first year of service, UEA ratings were estimated for those without prior experience)

Senator

GrsRts

GrsRts

UEA

GAY

UTA

Sierra

REPUBLICANS

Dist

Life

2007

2006

2007

2007

2007

CLI

Dayton *

15

R

81

76

30

0

100

43

81.3

Stephenson

11

R

74

72

29

0

100

33

79.5

Madsen

13

R

70

65

25

0

93

43

76.7

Peterson

24

R

72

60

33

0

94

43

74.7

Neiderhauser *

9

R

57

57

30

0

88

50

69.8

Jenkins

20

R

71

71

25

40

77

43

69.1

Stowell *

28

R

55

55

30

0

82

43

68.9

Greiner *

18

R

50

50

30

0

75

43

66.1

Bramble

16

R

58

53

27

40

86

33

62.9

Waddoups

6

R

57

52

23

40

88

43

62.7

Buttars

10

R

57

59

29

40

79

43

62.3

VanTassell *

26

R

43

43

30

0

65

43

62.2

Christensen

19

R

55

55

27

40

88

43

61.9

Hickman

29

R

57

59

42

40

73

43

59.3

Killpack

21

R

51

53

33

40

87

40

59.4

Valentine

14

R

55

50

30

40

80

67

58.2

Walker

8

R

48

50

31

60

88

43

54.3

Bell

22

R

41

47

43

40

94

43

53.8

Eastman

23

R

46

47

62

40

86

50

50.3

Knudsen

17

R

36

48

55

60

82

100

41.7

Hillyard

25

R

42

33

36

60

92

50

48.1

Average

56

55

33

28

86

47

63.0

DEMOCRATS

Mayne

5

D

28

32

85

70

88

57

31.6

Dmitrich

27

D

25

35

77

80

65

43

30.4

Jones *

4

D

16

21

93

40

65

71

28.1

Goodfellow

12

D

19

24

80

70

65

57

27.1

Davis

3

D

20

19

85

80

69

43

24.5

Fife

1

D

20

24

85

80

65

57

24.3

Romero *

7

D

23

20

93

70

77

86

23.6

McCoy

2

D

12

15

100

70

63

100

16.4

Average

20

24

87

70

70

64

25.8











Utah House CLI 2007


Representative

GrsRts

GrsRts

UEA

GAY

UTA

UFIRE

Sierra

REPUBLICANS

Life

2007

2006

2007

2007

2007

2007

CLI

Morley

66

R

91

90

27

0

100

90

50

87.1

Tilton

65

R

86

91

33

0

100

90

38

85.6

Frank

57

R

84

83

47

0

94

90

38

80.6

Dougall

27

R

73

77

26

0

88

90

50

79.6

Lockhart

64

R

82

76

36

0

77

90

43

79.5

Donnelson

7

R

80

75

43

0

100

100

50

79.1

Wimmer *

52

R

77

77

40

0

100

90

50

78.7

Herrod *

62

R

75

75

40

0

80

100

38

77.9

Oda

14

R

77

77

47

0

94

90

38

77.8

Newbold

50

R

72

64

25

0

87

90

38

77.8

Hughes

51

R

75

61

28

0

80

90

38

76.9

Sumsion *

56

R

74

74

40

0

81

90

63

75.4

Daw

60

R

71

71

43

0

82

90

38

75.1

Harper

43

R

67

65

38

0

100

90

50

74.3

Sandstrom *

58

R

67

67

40

0

88

100

75

72.6

Garn *

16

R

68

64

40

0

75

90

50

72.4

Painter

67

R

63

55

47

0

100

90

38

70.5

Urquhart

75

R

65

65

50

0

82

90

50

70.4

Noel

73

R

58

57

40

0

82

90

43

69.5

Grover *

61

R

59

59

40

0

75

80

50

68.6

Anderson *

48

R

54

54

40

0

82

90

50

67.5

Barrus

18

R

58

58

47

0

88

75

50

67.4

Wheeler

68

R

63

52

43

0

85

60

50

67.1

Curtis

49

R

53

64

36

0

53

90

67

67.0

Aagard

15

R

61

63

73

0

88

90

38

65.9

Walker

45

R

52

43

43

0

87

90

57

64.3

Mathis

55

R

54

46

53

0

65

90

38

63.3

Hutchings

38

R

51

52

64

0

75

90

50

61.4

Neuenschwander *

20

R

48

48

60

0

87

85

50

61.1

Clark, D

74

R

57

41

47

0

82

58

75

60.9

Froerer *

8

R

50

50

60

0

81

78

55

60.9

Kiser

41

R

64

61

50

40

77

90

63

60.8

Gibson

6

R

52

48

66

0

75

78

38

60.6

Last

71

R

53

58

64

40

88

90

38

57.1

Bird *

42

R

42

42

60

0

59

70

43

56.3

Ray

13

R

48

33

71

0

64

90

38

55.9

Snow, G

54

R

58

26

67

0

56

60

33

55.8

Brown *

53

R

42

42

60

0

53

58

38

55.4

Clark, S

63

R

53

41

43

40

67

75

43

55.3

Dee

11

R

43

35

71

0

80

75

43

54.8

Ferry

2

R

56

54

58

40

59

58

50

53.7

Dunnigan

39

R

50

39

87

0

53

90

57

52.6

Draxler *

3

R

33

33

60

0

77

60

63

51.6

Fowlke

59

R

52

48

46

40

71

0

50

50.9

Fisher, Julie

17

R

49

48

71

40

77

90

63

50.7

Wyatt

5

R

49

38

57

40

87

58

63

50.1

Buxton

12

R

42

41

86

0

67

70

71

49.9

Hunsaker

4

R

44

33

86

0

59

58

50

49.0

Bigelow

32

R

53

42

85

40

53

90

67

46.2

Holdaway

34

R

40

23

76

40

77

60

57

41.3

Mascaro

47

R

43

33

93

40

60

58

38

40.8

Bowman

72

R

36

11

67

40

63

58

43

39.6

Menlove

1

R

34

25

86

40

59

75

38

39.3

Allen

19

R

34

29

86

40

56

60

50

38.2

McIff *

70

R

33

33

60

80

53

58

38

36.5

Average

58

53

54

11

76

79

49

62

DEMOCRATS

Gowans

21

D

40

43

78

60

59

58

25

41.7

Hendrickson

33

D

35

43

83

60

50

58

33

38.4

Morgan

46

D

28

25

80

40

69

70

67

37.4

Hemingway *

40

D

17

17

80

40

50

58

86

30.1

Fisher, Janice

29

D

29

32

79

60

73

58

88

33.6

Riesen *

36

D

17

17

80

40

47

58

88

29.8

Hansen

9

D

27

38

86

70

67

58

43

33.5

Duckworth

22

D

35

48

93

70

53

65

50

35.2

Johnson, C *

25

D

17

17

80

60

63

58

100

26.3

Seelig *

23

D

17

17

80

80

53

58

86

22.8

Wiley

31

D

19

22

93

70

56

58

63

25.3

Shurtliff

10

D

21

18

90

70

53

58

67

25.1

Wheatley

35

D

21

14

93

60

59

0

71

22.2

Cosgrove

44

D

18

21

93

60

53

58

88

24.9

King

69

D

23

22

93

80

53

0

71

20.1

Biskupski

30

D

20

22

92

80

63

0

88

19.1

McGee

28

D

14

13

100

70

59

58

100

18.9

Moss

37

D

15

13

95

70

56

0

75

17.8

Litvack

26

D

16

17

93

80

69

0

100

16.6

Becker

24

D

16

8

100

80

53

0

100

12.6

Average

22

23

88

65

58

42

74

27