2014 RATINGS of CALIFORNIA

Transcription

1 2014 RATINGS of CALIFORNIA Conservative.org TLE OF CONTENTS Letter from the Chairman 2 CA Senate Vote Descriptions 5 ACU & ACUF Board Members 3 CA Senate Scores 7 How We Selected the 3 CA House Vote Descriptions Winners & Losers 4 CA House Scores 11

2 LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN Dear Fellow Conservatives, On behalf of our entire Board of Directors, I am pleased to present the American Conservative Union s 2014 Rating of the California State Legislature. Though our State Ratings program is newer than our 44-year old Federal Ratings program, it is quickly evolving into a comprehensive evaluative tool that uses principles of conservatism to rate the voting record of state legislators. Our pledge is to rate every state for each session so that every citizen in the nation knows how his or her state officials vote. Our scoring focuses on the full array of policy issues, including taxes, budgets, religious freedom, 2nd Amendment, government regulation, life, and education. Though Reagan s presidential term ended years ago, his legacy and philosophy live on, continuing to guide modern day conservatives. While we take note how conservatives in State Legislatures cast their votes when choosing legislation to score, we at the ACU are ultimately guided by the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the principles of free markets that articulate the inviolate principles of Life, Liberty, and Property. The goal of our ratings is to educate voters about how the liberal agenda is out of sync with mainstream Americans desire for common sense legislation. It serves also to highlight and educate all Americans about how conservative solutions produce better results. As part of that educational initiative, we are proud to include California in the 2014 ratings. Sincerely, Matt Schlapp Chairman American Conservative Union 2

3 ACU BOARD MEMBERS Matt Schlapp Chairman Thomas Winter First Vice Chairman Carolyn Meadows Second Vice Chairman Jameson Campaigne, Jr. Secretary Van Hipp, Jr. Treasurer Tim Goeglein Secretary Joe Bast Bob Beauprez Morton Blackwell Ambassador John Bolton Al Cardenas Ron Christie Muriel Coleman Kellyanne Conway ACU FOUNDATION BOARD MEMBERS Jose Cardenas Kimberly Bellissimo Amy Frederick Jonathan Garthwaite Tom DeLay Becky Norton Dunlop John Eddy Luis Fortuno Amy Frederick Charlie Gerow Alan Gottlieb Van Hipp, Jr. James Lacy Charlie Gerow Millie Hallow Colin Hanna Willes Lee Michael Long Grover Norquist Anne Northup Ron Robinson Ned Ryun Fred Smith, Jr. Lewis Uhler Carolyn Meadows Matt Schlapp Thomas Winter HOW WE SELECTED THE VOTES As the nation s oldest grassroots conservative organization, the American Conservative Union serves as an umbrella organization for conservatives in America. The ACU tracks a wide range of issues before Congress and State Legislatures to determine which issues and votes serve as a clear litmus test separating those representatives who defend liberty and liberal members who have turned their backs on our founding principles constitutionally limited government, individual liberty, free markets, a strong national defense and traditional values. As a result, the ACU Ratings have included a wide variety of issues covering votes on taxes, wasteful government spending, cultural issues, defense and foreign policy. To contact ACU on a policy issue, please call The votes selected by the ACU are not always considered the most important votes as defined by others, instead the votes selected are chosen to create a clear ideological distinction among those casting them. With our annual ratings, ACU s mission is informing grassroots conservatives and the public in an unbiased, transparent manner on where individual members of Congress fall on the ideological spectrum H Street NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC (202)

4 2014 WINNERS & LOSERS % AWARD FOR CONSERVATIVE EXCELLENCE < 10% COALITION OF THE RADICAL LEFT SENATE ASSEMBLY ASSEMBLY SENATE ASSEMBLY ASSEMBLY ANDERSON ALLEN LINDER Beall Alejo Hernández BERRYHILL BIGELOW LOGUE Block Ammiano Holden FULLER CHAVEZ MAIENSCHEIN Corbett Atkins Jones-Sawyer GAINES CONWAY MANSOOR De León Bloom Levine HUFF DAHLE MELENDEZ DeSaulnier Bocanegra Lowenthal KNIGHT DONNELLY NESTANDE Evans Bonilla Medina MORRELL GAINES OLSEN Galgiani Bonta Mullin NIELSEN GORELL PATTERSON Hancock Bradford Nazarian WALTERS GROVE WAGNER Hernandez Buchanan Pan WYLAND HAGMAN WALDRON Hill Calderon Pérez, J. HARKEY WILK Hueso Campos Pérez, V. JONES Jackson Chau Quirk Lara Chesbro Rendon Leno Daly Ridley-Thomas Lieu Dickinson Rodriguez Liu Eggman Skinner Mitchell Fong Stone Monning Garcia Ting 80-89% AWARD FOR CONSERVATIVE ACHIEVEMENT Padilla Pavley Roth Gatto Gomez Gonzalez Weber Wieckowski Williams SENATE n/a ASSEMBLY n/a Steinberg Wolk Gordon Hall Yamada 4

5 CALIFORNIA SENATE VOTE DESCRIPTIONS Same Sex Marriage. This bill repeals current California law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman, removes the terms husband and wife from state law and recognizes out of state same sex marriages. ACU supports traditional marriage and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on May 1, 2014 by a vote of Tax Increase. This bill circumvents the requirements for passing tax increases by calling the car tax a registration fee. ACU opposes this subterfuge and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 7, 2014 by a vote of Racial Data Collection. This bill requires various licensing boards to collect racial statistics of healthcare workers to determine if there are shortages of culturally appropriate medical services. ACU opposes these race-based laws and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 18, 2014 by a vote of Mandatory Kindergarten. This bill would force parents to send their children to kindergarten which has always been voluntary. ACU opposes these mandates that reduce parental control over their children s education and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 20, 2014 by a vote of Tax Increase This bill allows the city of El Cerrito to increase sales taxes two percent above the statutory limit, increasing the tax to over 10 percent. ACU opposes this dangerous precedent in a state that has the highest sales taxes in North America and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 21, 2014 by a vote of Property Rights. This bill forces landlords to allow tenants to install electric vehicle charging stations on their property. ACU opposes this violation of property rights and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 21, 2014 by a vote of Religious Freedom. This bill requires health care plans to provide free birth control without deductibles or co-payments) regardless of religious objections. ACU opposes measures that both ignore religious protections and interfere with the free market which drives up the cost of health care and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 21, 2014 by a vote of Tax Increase. This bill replaces a sales tax on bicycles with a a surcharge on vehicle registrations to pay for bicycle trails. ACU opposes this change from a user fee to a tax on vehicle users to pay for bicycle users and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 21, 2014 by a vote of Government Regulation. This bill creates a new registration program for those who help taxpayers appeal their property tax assessments even if they are already licensed appraisers. ACU opposes these needless regulations and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 25, 2014 by a vote of Property Rights. This bill creates new immunity from liability for the State Water Resources Control Board and local boards even when they are guilty of trespass. ACU opposes this violation of property rights and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 25, 2014 by a vote of Immigration. This bill makes it a crime for employers to discriminate against those holding special drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. ACU opposes the criminalization of a distinction that was the original purpose of the special driver s licenses and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 26, 2014 by a vote of Voting Integrity. This bill allows absentee ballots to be counted up to three days after election day even if there is no postmark. ACU opposes weakening the integrity of the ballot and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 26, 2014 by a vote of Student Loans. This bill would supply $9 million in government funds to subsidize student loans for illegal immigrants. ACU opposes a program that will result in higher tuition and taxes for legal immigrants and citizens and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 26, 2014 by a vote of Electric Car Subsidies. This bill authorizes the California Air Resources Board to create subsidies for low-income and disadvantaged people to buy electric cars. ACU opposes these programs that pick winners and losers in the marketplace and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 27, 2014 by a vote of Labor Law. This bill allows private parties to place liens against then property of employers for alleged past-due wages without a court order. ACU opposes this violation of property rights and due process and opposed this bill. The bill was defeated in the Senate on August 28, 2014 by a vote of Labor Law. This bill requires most employers to provide paid sick leave and prescribes how the sick leave must be apportioned. ACU opposes this interference in the free market which costs jobs and drives up the cost of business and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 29, 2014 by a vote of

6 Government Regulation. This bill bans single use plastic bags for most stores and creates a tax for paper bags. ACU opposes this interference in the free market and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 29, 2014 by a vote of Cap and Trade. This bill is designed to raise the cost of carbon faster by restricting offsets under the state cap and trade program to California-based projects. ACU opposes these programs that artificially drive up the cost of energy for consumers and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 29, 2014 by a vote of Labor Law. This bill removes the requirement that an employer must have committed an unfair labor practice to be forced into binding mediation and would allowing binding contracts to be imposed without a vote by the workers. ACU opposes this violation of worker and employer rights that will cost jobs and raise prices and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 30, 2014 by a vote of Second Amendment Rights. This bill requires anyone manufacturing or assembling a firearm to obtain a unique serial number from the government. AVU opposes weakening Second Amendment rights and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Senate on August 29, 2014 by a vote of

7 CALIFORNIA SENATE SCORES CALIFORNIA SENATE STATISTICS OVERALL AVERAGE 31% REPUBLICAN AVERAGE 91% LOWEST REPUBLICAN CANNELLA 59% DEMOCRAT AVERAGE 2% HIGHEST DEMOCRAT CORREA 21% CALIFORNIA SENATE VOTE DETAIL* Party District ACU Cast ACU % ANDERSON R X % Beall D 15 X X - X % BERRYHILL R X + X % Block D X % CANNELLA R X X X % Corbett D % Correa D X % De León D X - - X X % DeSaulnier D % Evans D % FULLER R X X + X + + X % GAINES R % Galgiani D X X X X % Hancock D 9 - X X X X X X X X X % Hernandez D X X % 7

8 CALIFORNIA SENATE VOTE DETAIL* Party District ACU Cast ACU % Hill D % Hueso D 40 - X X % HUFF R X % Jackson D 19 X % KNIGHT R X % Lara D X x X % Leno D % Lieu D X - X % Liu D X % Mitchell D % Monning D % MORRELL R X X % NIELSEN R % Padilla D X X % Pavley D X % Roth D 31 - X - - X - - X X X - X - - X % Steinberg D % Torres D X X % VIDAK R % WALTERS R X X X X X + + X % Wolk D X X % WYLAND R % *The following members of the Senate did not vote on enough of the selected votes and as a result were not rated: Caldron, Wright. 8

9 CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY VOTE DESCRIPTIONS Labor Law. This bill allows private parties to place liens against then property of employers for alleged past-due wages without a court order. ACU opposes this violation of property rights and due process and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on May 28, 2014 by a vote of Mandatory Kindergarten. This bill would force parents to send their children to kindergarten which has always been voluntary. ACU opposes these mandates that reduce parental control over their children s education and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on May 28, 2014 by a vote of Same Sex Marriage. This bill repeals current California law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman, removes the terms husband and wife from state law and recognizes out of state same sex marriages. ACU supports traditional marriage and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on June 30, 2014 by a vote of Tax Increase. This bill circumvents the requirements for passing tax increases by calling the car tax a registration fee. ACU opposes this subterfuge and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 11, 2014 by a vote of Religious Freedom. This bill requires health care plans to provide free birth control without deductibles or co-payments) regardless of religious objections. ACU opposes measures that both ignore religious protections and interfere with the free market which drives up the cost of health care and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 20, 2014 by a vote of Tax Increase. This bill replaces a sales tax on bicycles with a a surcharge on vehicle registrations to pay for bicycle trails. ACU opposes this change from a user fee to a tax on vehicle users to pay for bicycle users and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 20, 2014 by a vote of Racial Data Collection. This bill requires various licensing boards to collect racial statistics of healthcare workers to determine if there are shortages of culturally appropriate medical services. ACU opposes these race-based laws and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 21, 2014 by a vote of Property Rights. This bill forces landlords to allow tenants to install electric vehicle charging stations on their property. ACU opposes this violation of property rights and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 25, 2014 by a vote of Voting Integrity. This bill allows absentee ballots to be counted up to three days after election day even if there is no postmark. ACU opposes weakening the integrity of the ballot and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 25, 2014 by a vote of Student Loans. This bill would supply $9 million in government funds to subsidize student loans for illegal immigrants. ACU opposes a program that will result in higher tuition and taxes for legal immigrants and citizens and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 25, 2014 by a vote of Immigration. This bill makes it a crime for employers to discriminate against those holding special drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. ACU opposes the criminalization of a distinction that was the original purpose of the special driver s licenses and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 27, 2014 by a vote of Government Regulation. This bill creates a new registration program for those who help taxpayers appeal their property tax assessments even if they are already licensed appraisers. ACU opposes these needless regulations and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 27, 2014 by a vote of 5028 but it was vetoed by the Governor Property Rights. This bill creates new immunity from liability for the State Water Resources Control Board and local boards even when they are guilty of trespass. ACU opposes this violation of property rights and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 27, 2014 by a vote of Electric Car Subsidies. This bill authorizes the California Air Resources Board to create subsidies for low-income and disadvantaged people to buy electric cars. ACU opposes these programs that pick winners and losers in the marketplace and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 27, 2014 by a vote of Government Regulation. This bill bans single use plastic bags for most stores and creates a tax for paper bags. ACU opposes this interference in the free market and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 28, 2014 by vote of Tax Increase This bill allows the city of El Cerrito to increase sales taxes two percent above the statutory limit, increasing the tax to over 10 percent. ACU opposes this dangerous precedent in a state that has the highest sales taxes in North America and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 28, 2014 by a vote of

10 Cap and Trade. This bill is designed to raise the cost of carbon faster by restricting offsets under the state cap and trade program to California-based projects. ACU opposes these programs that artificially drive up the cost of energy for consumers and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 29, 2014 by a vote of Labor Law. This bill removes the requirement that an employer must have committed an unfair labor practice to be forced into binding mediation and would allowing binding contracts to be imposed without a vote by the workers. ACU opposes this violation of worker and employer rights that will cost jobs and raise prices and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 30, 2014 by a vote of Second Amendment Rights. This bill requires anyone manufacturing or assembling a firearm to obtain a unique serial number from the government. AVU opposes weakening Second Amendment rights and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 29, 2014 by a vote of Labor Law. This bill requires most employers to provide paid sick leave and prescribes how the sick leave must be apportioned. ACU opposes this interference in the free market which costs jobs and drives up the cost of business and opposed this bill. The bill passed the Assembly on August 30, 2014 by a vote of

11 CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY SCORES CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY STATISTICS OVERALL AVERAGE 34% REPUBLICAN AVERAGE 98% LOWEST REPUBLICAN ACHADJIAN 78% DEMOCRAT AVERAGE 6% HIGHEST DEMOCRAT FOX 75% CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY VOTE DETAIL Party District ACU Cast ACU % ACHADJIAN R X X % Alejo D X X % ALLEN R X % Ammiano D % Atkins D % BIGELOW R % Bloom D % Bocanegra D % Bonilla D X % Bonta D % Bradford D X X % Brown D 47 X X % Buchanan D 16 X X % Calderon D % Campos D % 11

12 CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY VOTE DETAIL Party District ACU Cast ACU % Chau D % CHAVEZ R X % Chesbro D % CONWAY R X % Cooley D X - - X X % Dababneh D % DAHLE R % Daly D 69 X X X % Dickinson D % DONNELLY R % Eggman D x X X % Fong D % Fox D % Frazier D 11 X X X X X % GAINES R % Garcia D % Gatto D % Gomez D % Gonzalez D X % Gordon D X X % GORELL R X X + + X % Gray D 21 X X X % GROVE R X X % HAGMAN R X X % Hall D X X % HARKEY R X X X X X % Hernández D % 12

13 CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY VOTE DETAIL Party District ACU Cast ACU % Holden D % JONES R % Jones-Sawyer D % Levine D X % LINDER R X X + + X % LOGUE R % Lowenthal D % MAIENSCHEIN R % MANSOOR R % Medina D 61 X X % MELENDEZ R X + + X % Mullin D % Muratsuchi D 66 X % Nazarian D % NESTANDE R % OLSEN R X X % Pan D % PATTERSON R X X X X % Perea D 31 X X % Pérez, J. D % Pérez, V. D X X % Quirk D % Quirk-Silva D 65 X % Rendon D % Ridley-Thomas D % Rodriguez D % Salas D X % 13

14 CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY VOTE DETAIL Party District ACU Cast ACU % Skinner D % Stone D % Ting D % WAGNER R % WALDRON R % Weber D X % Wieckowski D % WILK R X % Williams D % Yamada D X % 14

15 NOTES

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