WashPIRG Advocacy News

Three state senators and seven state representatives voted in the public interest 100 percent of the time in 2003, according to a scorecard released today by the Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG). The scores are based on Washington state legislators' votes on ten key environmental and consumer legislation during the 2003 legislative session.

"We thank our public interest heroes of the 2003 session who voted to protect the environment, public health, and consumers 100 percent of the time," said Ivy Sager-Rosenthal, WashPIRG’s environmental advocate. "But on several votes, the public interest broke even this year."

On the environment side, the Legislature approved a bill to reduce mercury pollution from consumer products, but failed to provide funding in the state budget for a critical program that will eliminate persistent toxic chemicals such as mercury, dioxin, and PCBs. The Legislature also rolled back important clean water protections by passing legislation to eliminate the Department of Ecology’s ability to ensure streams and rivers have enough water to protect salmon and other wildlife.

For consumers, the Senate passed a bill that would have eliminated essential consumer protections for condominium owners. Fortunately, the bill failed to pass the House.

Scored votes included: preventing the rollback of important environmental and health safeguards, stopping transportation gridlock by increasing funding for road maintenance and public transit, ensuring a fair democratic system of voting, increasing the production of biodiesel, and allowing toxic pollution in Washington’s waterways.

This year’s average Senate score of 48 percent is two points higher than the 46 percent Senate average for the 2002 Legislative Scorecard. The average House score also increased 12 points to 59 percent from last year’s average of 47 percent. However, only 12 senators and 34 representatives voted in the public interest more than 70 percent of the time in the 2003 session.

"Those legislators who received a low score on their scorecard should recognize that a high quality of life depends upon having strong protections in place to ensure a healthy environment, strong consumer protections, and good government," said Sager-Rosenthal. "The public supports clean air, clean water, and better consumer protections. Hopefully, during the next legislative session, we will see those legislators work harder to protect the public interest."

A legislator is considered a public interest hero if he or she received 100 percent on their scorecard. Public interest heroes for 2003 are:

Sen. Adam Kline (37th District)
Sen. Harriet Spanel (40th District)
Sen. Pat Thibaudeau (43rd District)
Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (36th District)
Rep. Hans Dunshee (44th District)
Rep. Sam Hunt (22nd District)
Rep. Joe McDermott (34 District)
Rep. Sandra Romero (22nd District)
Rep. Shay Schual-Berke (33rd District)
Rep. Dave Upthegrove (33rd District)

WashPIRG will distribute the scorecard to approximately 200,000 households across Washington this summer and fall as part of a door-to-door campaign to keep citizens involved in the legislative process.

Citizens can access these scorecards via WashPIRG’s website by going to www.washpirg.org/scorecard.