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Sutherland Institute Legislative Scorecard (2012)

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The Sutherland Institute, a conservative public policy think tank in Utah, released a scorecard for Utah state representatives and senators in 2012. The scorecard gave each legislator a score based on how he or she voted in the prior legislative term on bills that the Sutherland Institute determined were pro-conservative policies.[1]

2012 scorecard

Utah State Senate

The Senate section of the 2012 scorecard showed how Utah state senators voted in the 2011-2012 term. The institute gave the following descriptions of the 12 key votes that were evaluated in the scorecard.[2]

  1. HB 148: "Requires the federal government to transfer federal lands to state ownership by the end of 2014"
  2. HB 161 S2: "Affirms and strengthens parental rights"
  3. HB 298 S3: "Reduces the frequency of required safety inspections for new cars"
  4. HB 316: "Closes a loophole in Utah’s 90-day divorce waiting period"
  5. HB 363: "Requires sex education in public schools to teach that abstinence before marriage is the only sure way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases"
  6. HB 461: "Increases the waiting period for an abortion from 24 to 72 hours"
  7. SB 137: "Requires financial transparency from interlocal entities formed between multiple cities, counties, or local districts"
  8. SB 178 S1: "Creates a tiered pricing system for classes offered under the Statewide Online Education Program and strengthens rules for provider payments"
  9. SB 208 S1: "Makes Utah a member of an interstate compact to negotiate with Congress to obtain control of health care policy and programs in Utah"
  10. SB 280: "Increases caps on state 'rainy day' (savings) funds"
  11. SB 287: "Allows Utah to opt out of any agreement that gives control of public education curriculum to the federal government"
  12. SJR 22 S1: "Limits growth of state spending of tax dollars based on inflation and population; prioritizes debt payment and saving for surplus funds"

The Sutherland Institute supported "yes" votes on all the bills. All senators were given a percentage score according to how many yes votes they gave in line with the institute’s conservative principles, with 100% showing that a senator voted in complete agreement with the Sutherland Institute for all votes in which he or she took part.[2]

In the Utah State Senate, 13 of the 29 senators scored 100%, 20 senators scored 90% or higher, and two senators, Luz Robles and Ross Romero, tied for lowest at 25%.[3]

Utah House of Representatives

The 2012 House scorecard showed how Utah state representatives voted during the 2011-2012 legislative term. The institute gave the following descriptions of the 13 key votes that were evaluated in the scorecard.[2]

  1. HB 148: "Requires the federal government to transfer federal lands to state ownership by the end of 2014"
  2. HB 161 S2: "Affirms and strengthens parental rights"
  3. HB 298 S3: "Reduces the frequency of required safety inspections for new cars"
  4. HB 316: "Closes a loophole in Utah’s 90-day divorce waiting period"
  5. HB 363: "Requires sex ed in public schools to teach that abstinence before marriage is the only sure way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases"
  6. HB 461: "Increases the waiting period for an abortion from 24 to 72 hours"
  7. SB 137: "Requires financial transparency from interlocal entities formed between multiple cities, counties, or local districts"
  8. SB 178 S1: "Creates a tiered-pricing system for classes offered under the Statewide Online Education Program and strengthens rules for provider payments"
  9. SB 208 S1: "Makes Utah a member of an interstate compact to negotiate with Congress to control healthcare policy and programs in Utah"
  10. SB 280: "Increases caps on state 'rainy day' (savings) funds"
  11. SB 287: "Allows Utah to opt out of any agreement that gives control of public education curriculum to the federal government"
  12. HB 123 S1: "Establishes a pilot program to allow parents to control public education tax funds in order to customize their child’s academic experience"
  13. HB 236 S1: "Allows courts to consider the fault of the husband and/or wife in a divorce when determining alimony"

The Sutherland Institute supported "yes" votes on all the bills. All representatives were given a percentage score according to how many yes votes they gave, with 100% showing that a representative voted in complete agreement with the Sutherland Institute for all 13 key votes.[2]

In the Utah House of Representatives, 21 of the 75 representatives scored 100%, 36 representatives scored 90 percent or higher, and Mark Wheatley scored the lowest in the House at 20%.

Complete lists

Click [show] in order to expand the tables below with the full lists of rankings by legislator.

Methodology

The Sutherland Institute evaluated how often legislators' votes followed or broke with its principles. For bills that were in line with the institute's conservative principles, they gave points to legislators who voted in favor of the bill. The overall score was the percentage of yes votes given by a legislator, which corresponded with the positions held by the Sutherland Institute, out of the legislator's total votes. Bills that legislators did not vote on were not included in the score. In the case of the House, there were 12 bills, and in the case of the Senate, there were 13. (See above for the complete lists.)[2]

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Sutherland Institute, "2012 Legislative Session"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2012 Sutherland Institute Legislative Socrecard
  3. ↑ “Sutherland hands out Legislative Scorecard for 2012,” March 20, 2012
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