MEDIA RELEASE: 2015 Legislative Scorecard NOW LIVE

Freedom Index “Live” Rates Legislators as they Vote
Preliminary 2015 Ratings Indicate Legislative Track Once Again Sending
Ocean State in the Wrong Direction
 

An interactive scorecard of 2015 legislator voting records is now live online, announced today by the nonpartisan RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity. The new, 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 103 bills have been rated as qualifying for the Freedom Index scorecard; 58 with a negative rating and 45 with a positive rating, with an aggregate negative rating of  (-29) … meaning once again, the General Assembly is 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.

To date, only 9 bills (7 Senate, 2 House) that qualify for the RI Freedom Index have received actual floor votes, apparently leading up to yet another stampede of end-of-session committee and full-chamber votes.

Based on initial votes and preliminary bill ratings:
  • Marc Cote (D, Woonsocket) earned the highest score in the Senate. He and Nicholas Kettle (R, Coventry) were the only Senators to receive positive scores. Cynthia Coyne (D, Barrington) was the lowest rated Senator.
  • Scores for Representatives will be highlighted when more Freedom Index bills receive floor votes in the House

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.
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