187th Senate Scorecard: 2011-2012 Session
About the Scorecard:
A scorecard serves its purpose if it tells a story and informs advocacy.
As such, we prioritize votes that are contentious over those that are unanimous: unanimous votes neither tell a story nor inform advocacy. We prioritize bills and amendments that relate to our Progressive Platform and Legislative Agenda over those that do not, and we make a point of including bills and amendments for which our members lobbied their legislators.
We’ve researched and organized this data so that you can make informed assessments of your legislators’ voting records. We welcome you to use and share this material, with attribution!
VOTE DESCRIPTIONS & KEY:
1. Transparency – Vote on amendment to require roll call votes to be posted online. Roll Call #2 S6. Progressive position: yes.
2. Redistricting – Vote was on an amendment to create an independent redistricting commission. Roll Call #3 S6. Progressive Position: yes.
3. Transparency -Vote on amendment to require all roll call votes be posted online no later than 48 hours after a vote was taken. Roll Call #4 S7. Progressive position: yes.
4. Undocumented immigrants -Vote was on amendment to require the office of Medicaid to ensure that social security numbers are required on all medical benefits request forms. Roll Call #8 S3318. Progressive position: no.
5. Tax Fairness – Vote was on amendment to expand income tax credits by establishing a senior circuit breaker when a taxpayers total income does not exceed 50% of certain limitations. Roll Call #18 S3. Progressive position: yes.
6. Income Tax – Vote on amendment to reduce the income tax from 5.3% to 5%. Roll Call #21 S3. Progressive position: no.
7. Tax Fairness – Vote on amendment to impose an 80% excise tax on cigars and smoking tobacco. Roll Call #22 S3. Progressive position: yes.
8. Criminal justice reforms -Vote on engrossment of bill to allow convicted defendants access to forensic and scientific analyses. Roll Call 59 S1987. Progressive position: yes.
9. Sales Tax – Vote on an amendment to make the sales tax holiday permanent. Roll Call #60 S156. Progressive position: no.
10. Sales Tax – Vote on an engrossment of a bill providing a sales tax holiday for 2011. Roll Call #62 S156. Progressive position: no.
12. Pension reform – Amendment to Pension Reform legislation requires that any surplus in a pension system be held in contractual trust for the exclusive benefit of the members of the system. Roll Call #70 S2010. Progressive position: yes.
13. Casinos – Vote was on engrossment of expanded gambling legislation. Roll Call #102 S2015. Progressive position: no.
14. Criminal justice reforms -Vote on amendment to permit parole eligibility after convict had served 2/3rds of the minimum term of their sentence. Roll Call #112 S2054. Progressive position: yes.
15. Criminal justice reforms -Vote on amendment to reduce the required distance for more severe penalties for drug crimes around school zones from 1000 to 250 feet. Roll Call #114 S2054. Progressive position: yes.
17. Single payer – Vote was on amendment to study the efficacy of a single payer system for healthcare. Roll Call #178 S2260. Progressive position: yes.
18. Health Care – Vote was on an amendment imposing a short-term moratorium on new healthcare benefits. Roll Call #179 S2260. Progressive position: no.
19. Health Care – Vote was on amendment that would have eliminated the requirement that a consumer have prescription coverage as part of his or her health insurance plan in order to satisfy the requirement that all Massachusetts residents must have health insurance coverage or face a
financial penalty. Roll Call #180 S2260. Progressive position: no.
20. Health Care – Vote was on amendment that would have allowed health insurance companies to offer flexible benefit packages or “mandate lite” plans that include fewer state mandates. Roll Call #182 S2260. Progressive position: no.
21. Health Care – Vote was on amendment that would have eliminated an assessment on health insurers that was designed to fund a Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund, but have funded the Trust from money the state receives from casino and slot parlor licensing fees. Roll Call #186 S2260. Progressive position: no.
22. Transparency – Vote was on amending provisions with respect to Mutual companies by requiring that at the annual meeting there be a separate resolution regarding the compensation of the executives. Roll Call #193 S4. Progressive position: yes.
23. Social safety net -Vote on an amendment to prohibit EBT card beneficiaries from taking out more than $20 per day from ATM machines and prohibiting cardholders from using their benefits at certain establishments. Roll Call #219 S4. Progressive position: no.
24. Social safety net -Vote on an amendment to add more restrictions to EBT card usage. Roll Call #220 S4. Progressive position: no.
25. Foreclosure/consumer protection – Vote was on an amendment requiring creditors to participate in a foreclosure mediation process before pursuing foreclosure proceedings. Roll Call #226 S2267. Progressive position: yes.
27. Foreclosure/consumer protection – Vote was on adoption of an amendment that would have allowed certain nominally management employees of quick service restaurants to participate in tip pooling by waitstaff. Roll Call #254 S2350. Progressive position: no.
28. Transparency -Vote was on amendment that would have required tax increment financing data for municipalities to be available on publicly searchable websites. Roll Call #256 S2350. Progressive position: yes.
29. Economy – Vote was on amendment that established community development partnerships. Roll Call #257 S2350. Progressive position: yes.
30. Early Education/Child Care -Vote was on engrossment of a bill improving quality in early education and care by family child care providers. Roll Call #261 H3986. Progressive position: yes.
32. Citizens United – Vote was on bill to direct the state congressional delegation to support a federal law overturning Citizens United. Roll Call #273 S772. Progressive position: yes.
33. Transparency – Vote was on engrossment of a bill regulating electioneering communication expenditures and requiring the listing of the five top contributors in political ads by certain groups. Roll Call #276 S2397. Progressive position: yes.
34. Undocumented immigrants – Vote to override the Governor’s veto of a law using the Registry of Motor Vehicles for searching for undocumented immigrants. Roll Call #291 Progressive position: no.
35. Health care costs (Global payments) -Vote was on acceptance of the conference committee report for the omnibus health care cost containment bill. Roll Call #295 S2400. Progressive position: yes.
37. Bottle Bill – Vote was on an amendment to send to study –effectively killing, the updated Bottle Bill. Progressive position: no.
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