Voting Record Tabulates the Legislators Who Made the Grade for Business in 2007
Published: 11-09-07
Published: 11-09-07
AUSTIN – The Texas Association of Business (TAB) has released its biennial For the Record publication which scores the performance of Texas lawmakers based on key business votes during the 2007 legislative session. The publication has long been revered as an even-handed voting record of business issues that benefit every corner of our state. “For the Record has been a reliable tool for TAB members who want to know who is responsible for the new laws that are impacting their businesses” said TAB President & CEO Bill Hammond. “Similarly these business owners like to know who in the legislature they can count on in the future.”
The TAB lobby team testified or made its position known on more than 600 legislative proposals relating to issues that matter most to the employers of Texas. The bills or measures scored in the 2007 For the Record represent a sampling of those legislative proposals TAB weighed in on this session.
Votes that were eligible for consideration are bills of a subject matter addressed by the TAB Legislative Priorities publication that is distributed to all legislators at the beginning of session bills testified for or against by TAB staff and/or any bill that TAB sent advocacy or position letters to legislators’ offices.
The 2007 For the Record includes scores for both the 80th regular session and cumulative scores that show a legislator’s average score over all past TAB voting records.
Legislators who scored 90 - 100 are awarded the “Champions for Free Enterprise” honor and legislators scoring 80 - 89 are honored as “Fighters for Free Enterprise.” This cycle eight senators and thirty-three representatives received a score of 90 or above. Eleven senators and forty-four representatives earned a score of 80 or above.
Conversely TAB considers a score below 60 to be indicative of a session of votes that were weak for business. In 2007 nine senators and forty-three state representatives voted against business.
“There were significant ups and downs this session but the majority of legislators understood that supporting business creates more jobs for more Texans” said Hammond. “As a result legislation that would have negatively impacted the business climate in Texas was killed paving a positive future for Texas employers and employees.
Other key votes spread the gamut from education initiatives that will help young Texans on the verge of entering the workforce to environmental quality legislation that is business-friendly to bills that will improve the overall health of employees statewide.
The 2007 TAB voting record and all previous versions are available on-line at www.txbiz.org under the “Resources” header.
Founded in 1922 the Texas Association of Business is a broad-based bipartisan organization representing more than 140000 small and large Texas employers and 200 local chambers of commerce.
