About
the Survey
Despite
news coverage of the Montana legislature, voters often are at a loss
to determine whether the votes of lawmakers match the image they try
to project.
For
example, when a lawmaker says he=s a “conservative,” a “progressive,”
a “liberal,” or a “moderate,” what does it really mean?
And how much does party label tell you about a lawmaker=s voting record?
To
help voters learn the truth about their legislators’ voting records,
Montana Conservatives offers this Legislative Voting Survey.
The Survey ranks the voting records of all state legislators on key
issues during the 2007 general and special sessions. Based on
the tally, the Survey assigns each lawmaker a percentage indicating
how conservative or liberal that lawmaker=s voting record was.
There
are other legislative score cards in Montana, but they rely on only
a few selected votes. For example, the ratings issued by the Montana
Education Association (MEA), the Montana AFL-CIO, and the Montana Chamber
of Commerce all are based on about 12 votes apiece. Most national
services also use comparatively small numbers.
By
contrast, the Montana Conservatives Legislative Voting Survey
is based on by far the most complete spectrum of votes of any rating
service in this state.
Because
of its comprehensive nature, the Montana Conservatives Legislative
Voting Survey can be an invaluable tool for all voters, no matter
where they stand on the political spectrum.
About
The Scale B 0 to 100
The
scale runs from 0 to 100, with 0 representing a perfect “Liberal”
voting record and 100 representing a perfect “Conservative” voting
record. Votes for which a legislator was absent were not counted
in that legislator’s score. Each voting record was calculated
as a percentage of total votes, rounded off to the nearest digit.
You can find each lawmaker’s score in the section below entitled “Legislative
Rankings.”
What’s
“Conservative?” What=s
“Liberal?”
Generally,
a vote for bigger government -- more spending, taxing, regulation, or
intrusion -- was classified as Liberal. A vote against
bigger government or for smaller government was classified as Conservative.
Certain votes to reform public education and protect property rights
were classified as Conservative. Bills that were
hard or impossible to clarify one way or another were not included in
the Survey.
Of
course, we recognize fully that very few people are purely liberal or
purely conservative. For example, some people active in
Montana Conservatives would have voted “liberal” on some bills.
But our goal was not to produce a ranking based on what we liked and
didn’t like. Our goal was a survey based, as much as humanly
possible, on objective criteria. This is very different from rating
services issued by special interest groups, where each legislator gets
a “plus” for voting in a way the group thinks serves its own interest,
irrespective of whether an impartial observer would classify the vote
as liberal or conservative.
How
Many Bills Were Selected?
Fifty
bills and amendments were selected for the Survey’s Index. Of
these, 45 garnered votes in the House and 35 in the Senate. We
used this many bills because when a rating system relies on a relatively
small number of votes, it is more vulnerable to errors and to manipulation.
Also, when few votes are used, a lawmaker’s overall score can be affected
dramatically by a few unrepresentative votes. Using 35 or 45 votes
for each lawmaker cuts the chances of substantially inaccurate or skewed
results to almost “zero.”
The
bill numbers and descriptions are listed below in the section entitled
“Bills Used in the Index.”
How
Bills and Votes Were Selected for the Index
We
chose bills and votes in ways designed to maximize the accuracy of the
scores. Following are our selection criteria:
First,
so as to compare “apples with apples” as much as possible, we gave
selection-preference to measures for which there was a Third Reading,
and always used that the Third Reading vote when it was available.
Second,
we gave selection-preference to bills on which both houses voted, since
that increased the chances that a particular ranking (e.g. 55%) would
mean pretty much the same thing for a Senator as it meant for a Representative.
Third,
we chose only issues where conservatives and liberals split along ideological
lines, and we tried to avoid bills where a vote might be colored by
non-ideological factors. Hence, we generally avoided purely party-line
votes, where party discipline sometimes induces lawmakers to vote against
their natural inclinations.
Fourth,
we generally excluded votes where either an “aye” or “nay” could
reflect conservative or liberal values. For example, we
excluded a bill to increase veterans’ benefits because it could be
classified as either “conservative” (because conservatives are particularly
supportive of the military) or “liberal” (because the bill hiked
spending).
Finally,
we divided bills into various categories (listed in the section “Bills
Used in the Index”) and awarded selection-preference to proposals
that fit into more than one category, so long as they did not create
a liberal/conservative value conflict.
What
Do The Results Tell Us About The Montana Legislature?
The
data tell us a lot about individual lawmakers. But those data also
tell us a lot about the 2007 Montana Legislature. Here are some
of the findings:
- In 2007 the Senate
was under Democrat control and the House under Republican control.
You might expect, therefore, that the 2007 Legislature would turn in
a “centrist” record. But that’s not what we found.
Instead, we found that the overall voting pattern was definitely skewed
toward the Liberal side. Of the 50 Senators, only 12 earned scores
above 50%, showing that less than a quarter of the Senate voted Conservative
more than they voted Liberal. The other 38 – more than three-quarters
of the Senate -- voted Liberal more often than they voted Conservative.
- Much the same was
true of the House, even though the GOP enjoyed a slight edge there.
Only 19 of the 100 Representatives had scores of 50% or better, while
the other 81 voted Liberal more often than they voted Conservative.
For another view of this phenomenon, see the section below, “Breakdown
by Party.”
- The same pattern
shows up when you compare the most Conservative and the most Liberal
lawmakers. Only two Representatives and two Senators earned scores
of 90% “Conservative” or better, but 46 Representatives and 22 Senators
logged scores below 10%. Not a single lawmaker attained a perfect
100% “Conservative” rating, but seven attained perfect 0% “Liberal”
scores.
- The portside tilt
of the session also showed up in the kind of bills passed and defeated.
Few if any bills enacted into law actually reduced the size of state
government, but many expanded its size, scope, cost, and power.
- The same liberal-leaning
pattern shows up when you focus on specific kinds of bills. For
example, the 2007 session witnessed a massive increase in regulatory
intrusion into the lives of our citizens. Many bills created new
regulatory schemes or expanded existing schemes. We selected 14
of these bills for the Survey, and we could have selected more.
The 2007 Legislature also enacted massive increases in state spending.
Fifteen spending bills and amendments are included in the Survey.
- We found that in
the 2007 Legislature the two major parties had very different ideological
make-ups. The Republican caucus included lawmakers with a wide
spectrum of views, with voting records ranging from 5% to 98%.
Democrats, on the other hand, were far less diverse, tending to crowd
along the left side of the spectrum. This finding will likely
be controversial, but it is amply confirmed by both the actual tabulation
and by the findings of the left-leaning Montana AFL-CIO survey as well.
1
- The tabulation
shows that the most “conservative” Democrat, Rep. Joey Jayne, had
a score of only 24%, meaning she voted Liberal more than three-quarters
of the time. It also shows that no other Democrat exceeded even
14%. It is fair to say, therefore, that there were no moderate
(let alone conservative) Democrats in the 2007 legislature.
- One way to better
understand the 2007 Montana legislative make-up is to think of it as
divided into three major “parties” -- Conservatives (scores
above 70%), Moderates (scores of 30-70), and Liberals (below 30%).
By this reckoning, only five Senators and 10 Representatives were Conservatives
and 13 Senators and 24 Representatives were Moderates. The controlling
Liberal coalition in the Senate included all 26 Democrats and six Republicans.
In the House, Liberals also held a comfortable majority, encompassing
all 49 Democrats and 17 Republicans. Thus, the actual voting patterns
show a very different picture from that presented either by the news
media or by the politicians themselves.
- All this helps
to explain why not a single “Conservative” bill in the Index actually
made it through both houses.
- Not surprisingly,
therefore, the 2007 session was a bad one for education reform B
an issue that remains largely off the radar screen in this state despite
growing evidence that Montana=s public school system is slipping
further and further behind the rest of the nation. No charter
school bill was even introduced in the 2007 legislature, leaving Montana
as the only state in the Rocky Mountain West without charter schools.
Rep. Roger Koopman=s alternative teacher certification
measure, HB 230, was defeated in the House, leaving Montana as one of
very few states without a serious alternative certification law.
And the only bill remotely promoting school choice, Rep. Jack Wells=
HB 793, was defeated in committee.
Legislative
Rankings
MONTANA STATE
SENATE
Conservative Senators (70-100%)
Jerry O’Neil R
-- 91
Dan McGee R --
91
Joe Balyeat R
-- 89
John Esp R
-- 74
Jim Shockley R
-- 71
Moderate-To-Conservative
Senators (50-70%)
Greg Barkus R --
60
Jeff Essmann R
-- 57
Verdell Jackson R
-- 54
Bob Story R --
54
Keith Bales R --
51
Aubyn Curtiss R
-- 51
Corey Stapleton R
-- 51
Moderate-To-Liberal Senators
(30-50%)
Roy Brown R --
49
Don Steinbeisser R --
49
Gary Perry R --
43
Jerry Black R --
37
Kelly Gebhardt R
-- 37
Jim Peterson R
-- 31
Liberal Senators (under
30%)
Rick Laible R --
26
Terry Murphy R
-- 26
Bill Tash R --
20
Steve Gallus D
-- 14
Don Ryan D --
14
Joe Tropila D --
14
Mitch Tropila D
-- 14
John Brueggeman R
-- 12
John Cobb R --
12
Frank Smith D --
11
Carol Juneau D
-- 9
Sam Kitzenberg D
-- 9
Dave Lewis R --
9
Jim Elliott D --
6
Greg Lind D --
6
Dave Wanzenried D
-- 6
Vicki Cocchiarella D
-- 3
Mike Cooney D --
3
Kim Gillan D --
3
Kim Hansen D --
3
Bob Hawks D --
3
Christine Kaufmann D
-- 3
Lane Larson D --
3
Lynda Moss D --
3
Gerald Pease D
-- 3
Dan Harrington D
-- 0
Larry Jent D
-- 0
Jesse Laslovich D
-- 0
Trudi Schmidt D
-- 0
Carolyn Squires D
-- 0
Dan Weinberg D
-- 0
Carol Williams D
-- 0
MONTANA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Conservative Representatives
(70-100%)
Rick Jore C --
98
Roger Koopman R
-- 98
Scott Sales R --
87
George Everett R
-- 80
Jack Wells R --
80
Dave Kasten R --
76
Tom McGillvray R
-- 75
John Sinrud R --
75
Ray Hawk R --
73
Scott Mendenhall R
-- 71
Moderate-To-Conservative
Representatives (50-70%)
Craig Witte R --
69
Krayton Kerns R
-- 64
Diane Rice R --
60
Jon Sonju R --
60
Janna Taylor R
-- 58
Debby Barrett R
-- 56
Mark Blasdel R
-- 56
Dennis Himmelberger R
-- 56
Rick Ripley R --
50
Moderate-To-Liberal Representatives
(30-50%)
Ed Butcher R --
49
Bill Beck R --
47
Ed Hilbert R --
47
Ron Stoker R --
47
Bob Lake R --
46
Michael Lange R
-- 42
Scott Boggio R
-- 41
Chas Vincent R
-- 41
Ralph Heinert R
-- 40
Gordon Hendrick R
-- 40
Penny Morgan R
-- 38
Pat Ingraham R
-- 36
Ken Peterson R
-- 36
Wayne Stahl R --
34
Bill Nooney R --
32
Liberal Representatives
(under 30%)
John Ward R --
29
Gary MacLaren R
-- 29
Bruce Malcom R
-- 29
Jack Ross R --
28
Ernie Dutton R
-- 27
Carol Lambert R
-- 27
Mike Milburn R --
25
Joey Jayne D --
24
Edith Clark R --
21
Elsie Arntzen R
-- 20
Bill Glaser R --
20
Harry Klock R --
16
Bill Jones R --
13
Jesse O’Hara R
-- 13
John Musgrove D
-- 11
Duane Ankney R
-- 11
Bob Bergren D --
11
Eve Franklin D
-- 11
Walter McNutt R
-- 11
Jonathan Windy Boy D
-- 11
Norma Bixby D --
9
George Groesbeck D
-- 9
Alan Olson R --
9
Shannon Augare D
-- 7
Mary Caferro D
-- 7
Sue Dickenson D
-- 7
Kevin Furey D --
7
Dave Gallik D --
7
Betsy Hands D --
7
Teresa Henry D
-- 7
Cynthia Hiner D
-- 7
Mike Jopek D --
7
Art Noonan D --
7
Michele Reinhart D
-- 7
Julie French D
-- 5
Arlene Becker D
-- 5
Margarett Campbell D
-- 5
Llew Jones R --
5
Veronica Small-Eastman
D -- 5
Kendall Van Dyk D
-- 5
Tim Callahan D
-- 4
Doug Cordier D
-- 4
Robyn Driscoll D
-- 4
Ron Erickson D
-- 4
Robin Hamilton D
-- 4
Galen Hollenbaugh D
-- 4
Hal Jacobson D
-- 4
Jim Keane D --
4
Dave McAlpin D
-- 4
Bill McChesney D
-- 4
Mike Phillips D
-- 4
Holly Raser D --
4
Diane Sands D --
4
Jon Sesso D --
4
Dan Villa D --
4
Franke Wilmer D
-- 4
Deb Kottel D --
2
Gary Branae D --
2
Jill Cohenour D
-- 2
Bob Ebinger D --
2
Wanda Grinde D
-- 2
John Parker D --
2
J.P. Pomnichowski D
-- 2
Bill Thomas D --
2
Bill Wilson D --
2
Brady Wiseman D
-- 2
BREAKDOWN
BY PARTY
Senate Democrats:
Conservatives -- 0
Moderates -- 0
Liberals -- 26
Senate Republicans:
Conservatives -- 5
Moderates -- 13
Liberals -- 6
House Democrats:
Conservatives -- 0
Moderates -- 0
Liberals -- 49
House Republicans:
Conservatives -- 9
Moderates -- 24
Liberals -- 17
House Constitution:
Conservative -- 1
PARTISAN
IMBALANCE: THE LIBERAL REPUBLICANS
The following Republicans had
scores below 30%, meaning they voted Liberal” over 70% of the time.
By contrast, the most “conservative” Democrat, Rep. Jayne, voted
Conservative only 24% of the time, and no other Democrat exceeded 14%!
Senate House
Name Score Name Score
Laible 26 Ward 29
Murphy 26 MacLaren 29
Tash 20 Malcomb 29
Brueggeman 12 Ross 28
Cobb 12 Dutton 27
Lewis 9 Lambert
27
BILLS USED
IN THE INDEX
A total of 80 recorded votes
on 50 different bills and floor amendments were used in our rating system,
45 House and 35 Senate votes. After each bill number, is a short
description of the bill.
Abbreviations:
- “A” refers
to amendments. - “H” and “S”
tell in which rating (House, Senate or both) the vote was used. - “SS” refers
to a special session measure. - “Y” indicates
that a “yes” vote was a “Conservative” vote; an “N” indicates
that a “No” vote was a “Conservative” vote.
Budgeting
and Spending
HB 3 Major appropriations increases
in “Secure Care” and other DPHHS programs. H & S (N)
HB 4 Major budget increases
to OPI and other state agencies. S (N)
HB 9 Appropriates money for
cultural and aesthetic grants. H & S (N)
HB 417 $84 million biennium
hike in school spending; mental health screening. H & S
(N)
HB 418 Spends $2 million
annually for anti-meth media campaign. H (N)
HB 808 A-1, major increases
in funding of DPHHS social welfare programs. H (N)
HJR 44 Urging congressional
re-authorization of CHIP program funding. H & S (N)
SB 22 Expands CHIP eligibility
to 175% of the federal poverty level. H & S (N)
SB 152 $148 million biennium
increase in school spending; loan assistance program. H &
S (N)
SB 155 Creates the Older
Montanans Trust Fund program. H & S (N)
SB 206 $8.8 million spending
hike in health insurance for Medicaid-related workers. H &
S (N)
HB 2SS A-4, eliminates $3 million
in state and federal funding of family planning. H (Y)
HB 2SS A-8, eliminates mandatory
full-time kindergarten funding. H (Y)
HB 2SS A-10, eliminates funding
for the State Board of Horse Racing. H (Y)
HB 2SS 24% increase in general
fund spending, including $1 million for family planning. H &
S (N)
Government
Regulation
HB 65 Increase inspection authority
over independent contractors by Dept. of Labor. H & S (N)
HB 69 Licensure and regulation
of residential mortgage lenders. H & S (N)
HB 112 Codifies
fire dept authority and requires compliance with federal emergency equipment
standards. H (N)
HB 148 Increases licensing requirements
and fees on water recreation facilities. H & S (N)
HB 461 Imposes fire safety standards
on all cigarettes. H & S (N)
HB 536 Regulation of wholesale
drug distribution. H & S (N)
HB 569 Increases regulation
of nurseries and plant dealers. H & S (N)
HB 665 License and regulate
athletic trainers. H & S (N)
HB 687 Requires all health insurance
plans to extend well-child care to age 7. H & S (N)
HB 769 Registration and regulation
of private youth camp programs. H & S (N)
HJR 1 Calls upon Congress to
impose a “national health care policy.” H & S (N)
SB 74 Further regulates pawn
brokers and stiffens legal enforcement. H & S (N)
SB 300 Impose primary seat belt
law on Montana motorists. S (N)
SB 417 Extends the state licensing
moratorium on specialty hospitals. H & S (N)
Corporate
Welfare
HB 166 Broadens and extends
tax credits for biodiesel production. H & S (N)
HB 756 Expands eligibility for
workforce training grants. H & S (N)
HB 2SS A-11, eliminates funding
for New Worker Training corporate subsidies. H (Y)
HB 3SS Creates tax favors to
develop “clean and green” energy. H & S (N)
SB 69 Increases coal trust funds
going to state “value-added” loan program. H & S
(N)
SB 321 Creates state-sponsored
business and industrial development corporations. H & S
(N)
Education
HB 164 Freedom of local school
to use volunteers; provides tax deduction. H (Y)
HB 230 Provide for alternate
routes to teacher certification. H (Y)
HB 525 Promotes intellectual
diversity in state university system. H (Y)
HB 702 Rejects the centralized
federal regulation of No Child Left Behind. H (Y)
SJR 12 Resolution advancing
a global society and multi-national education. H & S
(N)
SB2SS A-1, makes full-time
kindergarten compulsory instead of local choice. H (N)
Taxes, Property
Rights, Socialism, Freedom
HB 330 Authorizes government
to own & operate energy generation facilities. H & S
(N)
HB 415 Requires parkland dedications
in private subdivisions. H & S (N)
HB 415 A-1, adds minor
subdivisions to parkland set aside requirements. H (N)
SB 118 Eliminate sunset for
hospital bed tax. H & S (N)
SB 250 Worker Freedom Act (Right
to Work) S (Y)
SB 266 Provides immunity from
prosecution for school trustees. H & S (N)
SB 307 Limits use of taxpayer
dollars to sue for more state funding. S (Y)
SB 345 Imposes stream setback
requirements on private property. S (N)
SB 485 State distribution of
occupational licensee mailing lists. H & S (N)
Montana
Conservatives
1113
Lincolnwood
Missoula,
Montana 59802
(406)
721-2266
PRESS
RELEASE
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE — FOR MORE INFO, CALL ROB NATELSON (721-2266) ---
SURVEY ATTACHED
New
Voting Index Shows
Most
State Lawmakers Voted “Liberal” In 2007 Sessions
A new voting
survey of the 2007 general and special sessions of the Montana legislature
has found that a surprising 65 percent of state legislators – including
all Democrats and 23 Republicans -- registered liberal voting records,
while only 10 percent achieved scores in the conservative range. Twenty-five
percent qualified as moderates.
The rankings,
taken from roll call votes on 50 diverse bills and amendments, were
issued by Montana Conservatives, a non-profit educational organization
headed by Rob Natelson of Missoula. Natelson is a law professor and
former gubernatorial candidate.
In the 12-page
report, the group defined “liberal” as “a vote for bigger government
– more spending, taxing, regulation or intrusion” – and “conservative”
as support for smaller government, protecting property rights and reforming
public education. Natelson said he believes the Montana Conservatives
“Legislative Voting Survey” is first liberal-conservative ranking
of Montana lawmakers, at least in recent times. The Survey relies on
a far greater number of votes than other Montana voting surveys, and
avoids the special interest considerations that often dominate other
rating systems.
“The results
were unexpected and eye-opening,” said Natelson. “The most dramatic
finding was how far left the 2007 Legislature proved to be. Some may
resist that conclusion, but I’d invite them to look at the Survey
for themselves, because the results are crystal clear. Most lawmakers
sided with bigger government most of the time, which means the 2007
Legislature was probably much more liberal than the Montana voters who
elected them.”
“Democratic
lawmakers all had strong liberal voting records – even the most conservative
among them still voted liberal over three-quarters of the time, “
Natelson said. “We expected that. But what we didn’t expect is how
often Republicans cast votes for more government. Certainly, some GOP
legislators were quite conservative, but most actually registered scores
below 50 percent.”
“Here’s
another key finding,” he added. “Out of 150 lawmakers, not a single
one – not even the Constitution Party’s Rick Jore – had a 100%
conservative voting record. Maybe that’s understandable, because few
people are all one way or the other – I wouldn’t have voted 100%
conservative myself. On the other hand, though, seven lawmakers compiled
pure 100% liberal records, and you had to be pretty far to the left
to do that.”
According to
the index, the most conservative members of the Senate were Jerry O’Neill
(R-Kalispell) and Dan McGee (R-Billings), both with scores of 91%, followed
by Joe Balyeat (R-Bozeman), John Esp (R-Big Timber), and Jim Shockley
(R-Victor.)
The most conservative
House members were Rick Jore (C-Ronan), Roger Koopman (R-Bozeman), House
Speaker Scott Sales (R-Bozeman), George Everett (R-Kalispell), Jack
Wells (R-Bozeman), Dave Kasten (R-Brockway), Tom McGillvray (R-Billings),
John Sinrud (R-Bozeman), Ray Hawk (R-Florence), and Scott Mendenhall
(R-Clancy).
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