The Colorado Union of Taxpayers recently released its 2008 Legislature ratings. Past President Penn Pfiffner appeared on yesterday's Mike Rosen Show to discuss the rankings.
In the House, Douglas Bruce is a champion with a 92.59 percent. While his personal behavior leaves a lot to be desired, Douglas Bruce legislatively voted with the taxpayers' interests in mind. Democrats Debbie Benefield of Arvada, Andy Kerr of Lakewood, and John Soper of Thornton tied for last place with the score of 7.41 percent. This compares to an average House score of 27 percent.
The Senate champion is Republican Dave Schultheis of Colorado Springs with a 92.31 percent. Democrat Bob Bacon of Fort Collins finished lasat with a score of 7.41 percent. The average Senate score is also 27 percent.
From the 2008 brochure, the Colorado Union of Taxpayers lists the metrics on which it judges the legislators:
Each state legislator is rated on his or her tax, spending, or government intrusion votes. For a bill to be chosen, it must have a split vote, with votes both for and against the bill. The bill must have a full vote in one chamber and at least a committee vote or full vote in the second chamber. Each legislator's percentage is calculated by the number of votes cast. Year-to-year comparisons indicate that CUT is accurately measuring whether a legislator favors lower taxes and less government, is a friend of the taxpayer, or continues with higher spending and creating more government intrusion in our lives.
CUT Board of Directors ruled that Taxpayer Champions must score 75% or better to be identified as a Taxpayer Champion.
The list of bills on which CUT bases the ratings is available in the brochure. Also provided in the brochure are the 2007 rankings of Colorado's US Congressional delegations.
In the House of Representatives, not surprisingly, Boulder County liberal Mark Udall came in dead last with a 5 percent score, slightly below Diana DeGette's and Ed Perlmutter's 6 percent showing. Tom Tancredo and Doug Lamborn led the Colorado delegation, each scoring 93 percent.
In the Senate, Wayne Allard scored a respectable 86 percent, and allegedly moderate Democrat Ken Salazar scored 9 percent.
While these ratings are not perfect, they do provide a snapshot of the legislators' perspectives on fiscal issues. At any rate, it is good to have some concrete data to measure how fast and loose each legislator spends taxpayer dollars on personal pet projects.
by Civil Sense
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