The Conservative - Liberal Index

"by their Fruits shall ye know them"


Once again, the 2009 Voting Records of the Utah Legislature indicate there is a difference between Republicans and Democrats.

For simplicity, Conservatives may be defined as favoring 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 2009 House goes to Rep. Lockhart at 82.5 with Honorable Mention to Representatives Dougall, 82.2, Frank, 80.8, Herrod, 80.7, Morley, 80.3, Grover, 80.0, Hughes, 79.8, Sumsion, 79.7, Daw, 78.6, and Mathis, 78.5.


Conservative Leader in the Senate was Senator Dayton, 84.9, for the THIRD consecutive year - she again edged out Senators Madsen, 82.3 and Stephenson, 80.5 at the top of the Senate list.

The Most Liberal Award goes to Rep. Chavez-Houck, 13.0, with several Democrats vying for that coveted title; and Senator Romero, 23.3 retains his liberal dominance of the Senate.

This year, ALL Democrats achieved a CLI lower than ALL Republicans, except one. Sen. Mayne, 46.5 showed a higher conservative rating than Rep. McIff, 42.0, the most liberal Republican, and Reps Holdaway and Bird (but they did manage to edge out the most conservative Democrat Representative (Hendrickson, 35.9)

All told, we can count 49 Conservatives (above CLI 60), 29 Liberals (below 40) and 25 Mugwumps, firmly balanced on the fence in the middle. (2008 had 42/29/33). Some might declare that a balanced, moderate group, others might yearn for stronger principles.

Education ratings showed the biggest disparities in the ratings with Parents for Choice being a virtual mirror of Utah Education Association. In an interesting anomaly, ALL of the Democrats in the House voted 100% correct according to the UEA. The GOP exhibited much more diversity in their education votes.

There were some changes in 2009 of groups "rating" our Utah legislators. Equality Utah, which focuses on "gay" rights, only rated some committee members. PCE posted some ratings as mentioned above and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) published at belated report from the previous year.

The Deseret News returned with its "effective legislator" based on passing the highest percentage of bills. Their rating is included for comic relief.

Rating groups used in the index:

GrsRts = GrassRoots 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 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."

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

PCE = Parents for Choice in Education "dedicated to ensuring every child has equal access to a quality education by empowering parents, increasing choice, and promoting innovative solutions to Utah’s educational challenges."

SIERRA = Sierra Club "activists dedicated to preserving and enjoying the land and quality of life in Utah and the West. "

NFIB = National Federation of Independent Business Reports the "Voting Record on Small Business Issues."

These Ratings were NOT used in CLIndex:

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

DNews = Deseret News appears to promote that the more laws, the better.

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	UTA	UFIRE	Sierra	PCE
	Life	2009	2009	2009	2009	2009	2009	CLI
HOUSE
REPUBLICAN	60	69	60	84	69	36	74	65
DEMOCRAT	28	30	100	46	46	81	23	25
SENATE
REPUBLICAN	59	67	40	96	59	53	81	69
DEMOCRAT	26	38	86	68	53	70	38	36