YCT Release Ratings of 82nd Texas Legislature

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 18, 2011

Contact: Tony McDonald, Senior Vice Chairman
Mobile: (512) 923-6893
Email: [email protected]

Austin, TX — Young Conservatives of Texas (YCT) released today their ratings of the 82nd Texas Legislature. These ratings are the 19th installment of the group’s ratings of the legislature, a public service the organization has performed since 1975.

Ratings of the 82nd Texas Legislature are available at yct.org/Ratings.

“In the 36 years that YCT has been producing our legislative ratings, they have grown to be the most thorough, trusted, and respected ratings of the Texas Legislature,” boasted Tony McDonald, YCT Senior Vice Chairman. “We are pleased to release them, and we hope they will be of assistance to voters during the upcoming primaries.”

YCT’s ratings are prepared by conservative students, volunteering their time to comb through thousands of pages of legislative journals to locate votes that highlight conservative public policy choices. Scorecards are then built showing how each member of the legislature voted on the measure and scores are calculated based on whether the member voted in accordance with conservative principles.

Scores for the 82nd Legislature are calculated based off of 56 votes in the House and 38 votes in the Senate, the largest cross-section of votes ever used by YCT. These scores are combined with each member’s past scores to compute a career score as well. For example, members who have served since 1975 have career scores calculated off of 469 votes over their career.

“YCT offers special recognition to Representative Ken Paxton (R-McKinney) and Senator Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) for earning the highest scores in the House and Senate, scoring a 94 and a 95 respectively,” added Mr. McDonald.

For his top score, Senator Birdwell also earned the Rookie of the Year award for the Senate. The House Rookie of the Year award went to Representative David Simpson (R-Longview), with a 91.

Nine members made YCT’s “Honor Roll”, a recognition reserved for all members scoring over an 85 on the scorecard. They were Senator Brian Birdwell (95), Representative Ken Paxton (94), Representative Wayne Christian (92), Representative Dan Flynn (92), Representative David Simpson (91), Representative Erwin Cain (89), Representative Bryan Hughes (89), Representative Randy Weber (87), and Senator Dan Patrick (87).

The most liberal legislator, according to YCT, was Representative Donna Howard (D-Austin), who earned a 6 on the group’s scorecard.

Young Conservatives of Texas has been promoting conservatism at universities across the Lone Star State for over three decades. The state’s most active political youth organization, YCT is composed of hundreds of members and alumni who participate in the full spectrum of politics. YCT issues the most respected ratings of the Texas legislature and is the only conservative group to have done so without interruption over the past 19 legislative sessions. To learn more about YCT, their ratings, or for information on joining, please visit www.yct.org.