2008 CLI Summary

The Conservative - Liberal Index

"by their Fruits shall ye know them"


Once again, the 2008 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 FOURTH consecutive year goes to Rep. Morley at 83.8; with Honorable Mention to Representatives Tilton, Wimmer, Oda, Donnelson, Sumsion, Frank, Herrod, Dougall, and Hughes.


Leader in the Senate was Senator Dayton for the SECOND year - she edged out Senators Madsen and Stephenson (again) at the top of the Senate list.

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

This year, ALL Republicans but one achieved a CLI higher than ALL Democrats. This year, the highest Democrat (Duckworth) had a higher CLI than the lowest ranking Republicans (McIff)

All told, we might count 42 Conservatives (above 60), 29 Liberals (below 40) and 33 Mugwumps, firmly balanced on the fence. (2007 had 45/32/27 and 2006 showed 41/31/33) Some might declare that a balanced, moderate group, others might yearn for stronger principles.

There was, again, a minor change in 2008 of groups "rating" our Utah legislators. The "Gay" rights ratings used previously has disappeared, but replaced by Equality Utah which focuses on the same issue, but must be more "moderate" (or successful).

The UAR (realtors) have so many legislative members, they may have decided they didn't need to rate them for the last couple years.

The Deseret News may has dropped its "effective legislator" based on passing the most bills. They continued a grading report based on attendance, which doesn't show much as must legislators voted (attended) over 90% of the time.

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."

Eqlty = Equality Utah mission: "To secure equal rights and protections for LGBT Utahns and their families."

UTA = Utah Taxpayers Association 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 Illegal immigration issues

SIERRA = Sierra Club "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	Eqlty	UTA	UFIRE	Sierra
	Life	2008	2008	2007	2008	2008	2008	CLI
HOUSE
REPUBLICAN	57	54	56	60	81	80	59	62
DEMOCRAT	23	26	97	92	53	16	89	24
SENATE
REPUBLICAN	49	50	44	38	80	67	62	53
DEMOCRAT	21	28	95	75	57	41	85	24