By DAVID BOYLE
There sure is a lot of election noise on the radio, TV, and in our mailboxes and inboxes. How do you separate the truth from misinformation and disinformation?
Do you read and believe the mailers from the various candidates? Do you listen to the pandering, mudslinging and downright lies on radio and TV?
Wouldn’t it be great to actually know how your own legislators voted? Then you could be a much better-informed voter and be more satisfiedwith your vote decision.
And do you remember when you got a report card at school or a performance evaluation at work? Elected officials are supposed to work for you so don’t you believe they should get a performance evaluation?
Most Alaskans are busy working, taking care of their children, etc. and are just too busy to unlock the goings-on in Juneau. We make it easy and informative. We have scoring criteria (https://alaskapoliticsexplained.org/legislator-report-card-scoring-matrix/) which are based on less government/more freedom, less regulation, responsible fiscal policy, and free markets. We stay out of partisan politics and only rate legislation based on our criteria.
This report card evaluates Alaska Legislature bills to determine if your “employees”, aka legislators, are working for you. We only evaluate bills; we do NOT evaluate legislators. Once the bills are evaluated, the results go through an algorithm that produces the legislator “grades”.
Here is the report card based on legislators’ actual votes.
Here are the top-rated legislators, according to the report card:
And here are the bottom rated legislators, according to the report card:
Many legislators claim to be conservative, yet don’t seem to vote according to the criteria used to evaluate the bills.
If you want to see how your legislator voted on a bill, click on his/her name and their votes will appear. On the specific legislator’s name, such as Rep. Alyse Galvin, you will see her contact information and most importantly, who funds her (Follow the Money) in the upper left corner.
You don’t have to rely on mainstream media, politicians, or special interests to know how your legislator voted. You don’t even have to go to the state’s website, BASIS, because all the information you need to stay informed is right here.
This is not about party affiliation or labels like liberal, moderate or conservative. It is about a philosophical belief in the role of government.
But both liberals and conservatives can use this report card. The more liberal legislators’ votes rank at the bottom and the more conservative legislators’ votes rank at the top.
So, if you’re tired of the pandering and posturing of politicians, then you will like this report card.
Informed voters are vital and essential to a well-functioning government. Remember, get informed and vote by Nov. 5.
David Boyle is an education writer for Must Read Alaska.
