Freedom Index “Live” Update: Zero Legislators Now with Positive Score; Overall GA Index Falls to (-79)

Freedom Index “Live” Update
Zero Legislators Now with Positive Score; Overall GA Index Falls to (-79)

Providence, RI — Individual legislator voting scores and the overall legislative direction of the General Assembly took a precipitous fall last week, according to an interactive scorecard, updated Monday, which 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 194 bills have preliminarily been rated as qualifying for the Freedom Index scorecard; 117 with a negative rating, 73 with a positive rating and 4 yet to be rated, with an aggregate General Assembly negative rating of (-79) (down from (-56) 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.

Not one of 113 state legislators scored above zero. For each vote, every legislator has the chance to earn a positive score. To date, 57 rated bills have received a floor vote.

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.