187th Senate Scorecard: 2011-2012 Session

1. Transparency – Vote on amendment to require roll call votes to be posted online. Roll Call #2 S6. Progressive position: yes.

2. Redistricting – Vote was on an amendment to create an independent redistricting commission. Roll Call #3 S6. Progressive Position: yes.

3. Transparency -Vote on amendment to require all roll call votes be posted online no later than 48 hours after a vote was taken. Roll Call #4 S7. Progressive position: yes.

4. Undocumented immigrants -Vote was on amendment to require the office of Medicaid to ensure that social security numbers are required on all medical benefits request forms. Roll Call #8 S3318. Progressive position: no.

5. Tax Fairness – Vote was on amendment to expand income tax credits by establishing a senior circuit breaker when a taxpayers total income does not exceed 50% of certain limitations. Roll Call #18 S3. Progressive position: yes.

6. Income Tax – Vote on amendment to reduce the income tax from 5.3% to 5%. Roll Call #21 S3. Progressive position: no.

7. Tax Fairness – Vote on amendment to impose an 80% excise tax on cigars and smoking tobacco. Roll Call #22 S3. Progressive position: yes.

8. Criminal justice reforms -Vote on engrossment of bill to allow convicted defendants access to forensic and scientific analyses. Roll Call 59 S1987. Progressive position: yes.

9. Sales Tax – Vote on an amendment to make the sales tax holiday permanent. Roll Call #60 S156. Progressive position: no.

10. Sales Tax – Vote on an engrossment of a bill providing a sales tax holiday for 2011. Roll Call #62 S156. Progressive position: no.

11. Pension reform – Vote on an amendment to make the Massachusetts pension schedule slightly more generous. Roll Call #67 S2010 Progressive position: yes.

12. Pension reform – Amendment to Pension Reform legislation requires that any surplus in a pension system be held in contractual trust for the exclusive benefit of the members of the system. Roll Call #70 S2010.  Progressive position: yes.

13. Casinos – Vote was on engrossment of expanded gambling legislation. Roll Call #102 S2015.  Progressive position: no.

14. Criminal justice reforms -Vote on amendment to permit parole eligibility after convict had served 2/3rds of the minimum term of their sentence. Roll Call #112 S2054.  Progressive position: yes.

15. Criminal justice reforms -Vote on amendment to reduce the required distance for more severe penalties for drug crimes around school zones from 1000 to 250 feet.   Roll Call #114 S2054.  Progressive position: yes.

16. Redistricting – Vote was on engrossment of a bill creating new congressional districts based on the 2010 census. Roll Call #123 H3798.  Progressive position: yes.

17. Single payer – Vote was on amendment to study the efficacy of a single payer system for healthcare. Roll Call #178 S2260.  Progressive position: yes.

18.  Health Care – Vote was on an amendment imposing a short-term moratorium on new healthcare benefits. Roll Call #179 S2260.  Progressive position: no.

19. Health Care – Vote was on amendment that would have eliminated the requirement that a consumer have prescription coverage as part of his or her health insurance plan in order to satisfy the requirement that all Massachusetts residents must have health insurance coverage or face a
financial penalty. Roll Call #180 S2260.  Progressive position: no.

20. Health Care – Vote was on amendment that would have allowed health insurance companies to offer flexible benefit packages or “mandate lite” plans that include fewer state mandates. Roll Call #182 S2260.  Progressive position: no.

22. Transparency – Vote was on amending provisions with respect to Mutual companies by requiring that at the annual meeting there be a separate resolution regarding the compensation of the executives. Roll Call #193 S4. Progressive position: yes.

23. Social safety net -Vote on an amendment to prohibit EBT card beneficiaries from taking out more than $20 per day from ATM machines and prohibiting cardholders from using their benefits at certain establishments. Roll Call #219 S4. Progressive position: no.

24. Social safety net -Vote on an amendment to add more restrictions to EBT card usage. Roll Call #220 S4. Progressive position: no.

25. Foreclosure/consumer protection – Vote was on an amendment requiring creditors to participate in a foreclosure mediation process before pursuing foreclosure proceedings. Roll Call #226 S2267. Progressive position: yes.

26. Criminal justice reforms -Vote was on final passage of the “three strikes” crime bill. Roll Call #243 H3818. Progressive position: no.

27. Foreclosure/consumer protection – Vote was on adoption of an amendment that would have allowed certain nominally management employees of quick service restaurants to participate in tip pooling by waitstaff. Roll Call #254 S2350. Progressive position: no.

28. Transparency -Vote was on amendment that would have required tax increment financing data for municipalities to be available on publicly searchable websites. Roll Call #256 S2350. Progressive position: yes.

29. Economy – Vote was on amendment that established community development partnerships. Roll Call #257 S2350. Progressive position: yes.

30. Early Education/Child Care -Vote was on engrossment of a bill improving quality in early education and care by family child care providers. Roll Call #261 H3986. Progressive position: yes.

31. Foreclosure/consumer protection -Vote was on accepting the conference committee report on bill preventing unlawful and unnecessary foreclosures. Roll Call #265 H4096. Progressive position: yes.

32. Citizens United – Vote was on bill to direct the state congressional delegation to support a federal law overturning Citizens United. Roll Call #273 S772. Progressive position: yes.

33. Transparency – Vote was on engrossment of a bill regulating electioneering communication expenditures and requiring the listing of the five top contributors in political ads by certain groups. Roll Call #276 S2397. Progressive position: yes.

34. Undocumented immigrants – Vote to override the Governor’s veto of a law using the Registry of Motor Vehicles for searching for undocumented immigrants. Roll Call #291 Progressive position: no.

35. Health care costs (Global payments) -Vote was on acceptance of the conference committee report for the omnibus health care cost containment bill. Roll Call #295 S2400. Progressive position: yes.

36. Economy – Vote was on enactment of the 2012 jobs bill. Roll Call #309 H4352. Progressive position: yes.

37. Bottle Bill – Vote was on an amendment to send to study –effectively killing, the updated Bottle Bill. Progressive position: no.