Every couple of years we are asked to go to the polls and vote for someone who we believe will best represent our values and our interests at the local, state and national level. In this new column, we will present information to help us understand who our representatives are, and who are those who would like to represent us. In this first column, we look at the voting record of State Senator Kevin Witkos and House Representative Bill Simanski on environmental bills that came up during the 2012 legislative session.
___________________________
Both our State Senator Kevin Witkos and our House representative Bill Simanski ranked at the bottom of their classes when their voting records on environmental bills presented during the 2012 legislative session were scored.
The Connecticut League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) recently issued their annual Environmental Scorecard which grades state senators and representatives on a 0% to 100% scale based on how they vote on important environmental legislation. This year the scorecard graded legislators’ votes on fifteen significant environmental bills that came up during the 2012 legislative session.
Our legislators received the following scores:
Senate Scorecard
.
State Senator Kevin Witkos received a score of 70% which earned him a grade of C-. State Sen. Witkos’ score is the lowest score received by any of the 36 state senators. Sen. Witkos’ environmental voting score for 2012 was 17% lower than his lifetime score of 87%.
Click to enlarge image
Download the complete Environmental Scorecard for the state Senators by clicking the following link: Senate Conservation Voting Record (7).
House Scorecard
.
House Representative Bill Simanski received a score of 67% which earned him a grade of D+. House Rep. Simanski’s score is the 12th lowest score among the state’s 151 House representatives. Rep. Simanski’s environmental voting score for 2012 was 2% lower than his lifetime score of 69%.
Click to enlarge image
Download the complete Environmental Scorecard for the state House Representatives by clicking the following link: House Conservation Voting Record (5).
___________________________
More Information:
For more information on the environmental bills included in the scorecard and other information, download the complete 2012 Environmental Scorecard from the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters’ website.
Letter grades were assigned to the percentages by using a system common in the United States, see Wikipedia.
Emerging from the woods into the meadows at Brodie Park South. Photo: NewHartfordPlus archives
