Happy Sunshine Week! ☀☀ Sunshine Week is an initiative from the News Leaders Association to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy. We know a thing about excessive and unnecessary secrecy in government here in MA.
But one piece of information we do have is recorded votes.
Each session, we create a scorecard based on a subset of key roll call votes related to our progressive platform. Scorecards provide a vital accountability tool, enabling constituents to see what the Legislature is doing, how their legislators are voting, and where there is room for pressure.
Announcing Our Mid-Session 2021-2022 Scorecard
Our 192nd Scorecard through February 2022 is now live on https://scorecard.progressivemass.com/. You can also find it on our website here and here.
How did your legislators do? Click to find out.
Perfect Scores & Other Data Points
Congratulations to the five legislators who had perfect scores!
- Rep. Mike Connolly (D-Cambridge)
- Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven (D-Somerville)
- Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz (D-Jamaica Plain)
- Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton)
- Sen. Becca Rausch (D-Needham)
Other legislators who scored above 90% include Rep. Tami Gouveia (D-Acton), Rep. Nika Elugardo (D-Jamaica Plain), Rep. Russell Holmes (D-Mattapan), Rep. Dan Sena (D-Acton), Sen. Adam Gomez (D-Springfield), Sen. Adam Hinds (D-Pittsfield), Sen. Pat Jehlen (D-Somerville), and Sen. Ed Kennedy (D-Lowell).
Compared to last session, fewer Democrats received Ds and Fs. Why? Because the Legislature last session took a number of votes on policing reform, which highlighted major ideological splits in the Democratic caucus in both the House and Senate. There are still plenty of important pending bills that might raise similar ideological splits in the current session if the Legislature chooses bold action instead of inertia and avoidance.
That said, Democrats scoring a “D” or below include Rep. Patrick Kearney (D-Scituate), Rep. Christopher Markey (D-Dartmouth), Rep. Angelo Puppolo (D-Springfield), Rep. Jeff Turco (D-Winthrop), Rep. Dave Robertson (D-Tewksbury), Rep. Colleen Garry (D-Dracut), Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton), and Sen. Walter Timilty (D-Milton).
No Republican in the House scored above 30%; in the Senate, the highest was Sen. Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth) at 45%.
Why a Scorecard?
We believe that Democracy functions best when there’s transparency. And, our Massachusetts Legislature functions best when citizens know what votes our elected officials are taking and when we can compare their actions to their rhetoric. But on Beacon Hill, that’s not such a straightforward proposition.
Finding your legislator’s voting record, and understanding it, can be very difficult and time-consuming. With our “progressive scorecards,” finalized at the end of every 2-year legislative session (but with mid-session updates), we aim to make it easier.
What a Score Means…and What It Doesn’t
As they do with letter grades, an A means excellent, a B means good, a C means average, a D means poor, and an F, well, you get the point.
It’s important to understand these scores from two perspectives: (1) how a legislator is doing compared to how we want them to be doing and (2) how a legislator is doing compared to his/her colleagues. A good scorecard is one that tells a story.
That being said, EVERY legislator can be doing better. And part of doing better is providing more recorded votes that truly capture the story of each chamber. We are only scoring the votes that are taken, and there are many bills and amendments that never receive the votes they deserve. A scorecard can’t account for what goes on behind the scenes and how legislators championed or fought bills or amendments before they came to that vote.
But recorded votes matter. They are how legislators provide receipts of their professed principles, and scorecards provide engaged citizens with an understanding of what’s happening at the Legislature—and how they (YOU) can change it.
