2015 Legislator Scorecard Update; Only 12 Legislators with Positive Scores

Freedom Index “Live” Update
Only 12 lawmakers earn positive scores; Overall GA Index at (-56)

Providence, RI — As 2015 bills receive floor votes, an updated interactive scorecard of legislator voting records can be viewed live online, published by the nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity. The near real-time RI Freedom Index – Live rates individual pieces of legislation, according to whether or not they preserve or infringe upon the freedoms of Rhode Islanders, then scores General Assembly legislators based on how they voted for each bill.

While not all 2015 bills have been evaluated, to date 176 bills have preliminarily been rated as qualifying for the Freedom Index scorecard; 101 with a negative rating, 71 with a positive rating and 4 yet to be rated, with an aggregate General Assembly negative rating of (-56) (up from (-58) last week), meaning once again, lawmakers are on a path to do more harm than good when it comes to legislation that preserves the freedom and, therefore, the prosperity of our state’s residents.

Out of 113 state legislators, only 12 earned a positive score, all in the House (9 Republican, 3 Democrat). For each vote, every legislator has the chance to earn a positive score. To date, the 176 rated bills have generated 31 actual floor votes.

With the online tool, voters can monitor the scorecards – as votes occur – for all legislators, and can sort and filter by party, district, bill category, and legislator score. The tool also includes separate interactive district maps for the House and Senate.

For more information about current and prior year Freedom Index posts, please visit RIFreedom.org/FreedomIndex.

About the Center
The nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity is Rhode Island’s premiere free-enterprise think tank. The mission of the 501c3 nonprofit organization is to return government to the people by opposing special-interest politics and advancing proven free-market solutions that can transform lives by restoring economic competitiveness, increasing educational opportunities, and protecting individual freedoms.