Other Issues In the News

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

Texas House Democrats scored more than 40 points higher on average than their Republican colleagues on a report card that an environmental watchdog group has issued for votes cast in the regular session earlier this year. But a majority of House Democrats did not rate as high on the Environment Texas biennial scorecard for 2007 as they had in previous years while a majority of Republicans had greener voting records this time around.

While nine House Democrats who've been in the lower chamber for more than one term received scores that topped their lifetime averages, 39 representatives with D's beside their names had batting averages on environmental issues below their career marks. By contrast, 43 House Republicans scored higher on votes cast on air and water quality measures this year than they had in previous sessions while 29 colleagues who represent the GOP in the lower chamber received lower scores in 2007 than their lifetime averages on environmental issues. Six House Democrats and one Republican matched the average scores they'd received in past sessions with the votes they cast this year on issues affecting the environment.

Environment Texas Director Luke Metzger said that House members voted green on average 46 percent of the time while their counterparts in the state Senate sided with the environment 61 percent of the time on average based on the votes that the group examined after the session this year. The environmental advocacy organization based the scores for 2007 on votes cast on bills and amendments dealing with global warming, subsidies for nuclear and coal burning plants, clean air standards for power plants, renewable energy and water conservation.

According to a review of the group's analysis, the average score for House Democrats this year was 69.5 percent while Republicans in the lower chamber averaged 26 percent on their scorecards for 2007. Senate Democrats fared best with an average rating of 83 percent while their Republican counterparts received an average score of 49 percent.

Seven House Democrats - State Reps. Lon Burnam of Fort Worth, Garnet Coleman of Houston, Norma Chavez of El Paso, Abel Herrero of Corpus Christi, David Leibowitz of San Antonio, Elliott Naishtat of Austin and Dora Olivo of Rosenberg - received scores of 100 percent on the Environment Texas scorecard for 2007. Three House Republicans - Patricia Harless of Houston, Will Hartnett of Dallas and Joe Straus of San Antonio - ended up with goose eggs beside their names. Harless was the only House freshman to receive a grade of zero for votes that the group examined this year.

State Senator Marios Gallegos, a Houston Democrat, was the only lawmaker in the Capitol's east wing to receive a perfect score of 100 percent on the Environment Texas report card this year. Gallegos, who had a liver transplant early this year, missed three of the seven votes on which the group's Senate ratings for 2007 are based. Republican State Senators Chris Harris of Arlington and Florence Shapiro of Plano tied for last in the upper chamber with scores of 29 percent on the group's scorecard this year.

The lowest performing House Democrats on votes reviewed by the environmental group were State Reps. Robby Cook of Eagle Lake, David Farabee of Wichita Falls, Mark Homer of Paris and Aaron Peña of Edinburg with scores of 33 percent. While Cook tied for the lowest score among House Democrats, the grade he received from Metzger's group for this year's session was a two-point improvement over his lifetime average. Homer, Farabee and Cook all represent districts that are dominated by Republican voters.

With a score of 67 percent, State Rep. Kirk England of Grand Prairie cast the greenest votes for a Republican in the lower chamber while three fellow GOP members - State Reps. Frank Corte of San Antonio, Dan Gattis of Georgetown and John Zerwas of Houston - were tied for second with scores of 50 percent on their side of the partisan aisle. The regular session in 2007 was the first that England and Zerwas had ever attended. England represents a district that Democrats think they have a chance to win in next year's elections. Fourteen House Democrats also sided with the environmental group on 50 percent of the votes that it reviewed for the report card this year.

The most significant change between a legislator's previous grades and the score received from Environment Texas this year came when Pena graded out 34 points below his lifetime average. Democratic State Rep. Rene Oliveria of Brownsville scored 20 points higher on the group's report card for 2007 than his average score from previous years. In contrast, Republican State Rep. Todd Smith of Euless received a score this year that was 20 points below the average he'd accumulated based on votes that the environmental group had examined after past sessions he'd attended. Oliveira posted a score of 83 percent for this year's session while Smith's grade plummeted to 17 percent in 2007.

With grades of 50 percent, Democratic State Rep. Richard Raymond of Laredo posted a score this year that was 18 points lower than his lifetime average while State Rep. Allan Ritter improved by that same amount over scores from years past. Ritter is a Nederland Democrat. Other significant swings were recorded for Democratic Dallas State Reps. Roberto Alonzo and Rafael Anchia, whose scores of 67 percent were 17 points below lifetime averages. State Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Houston Democrat who announced a campaign for House speaker after the regular session ended in May, scored 16 points below his lifetime average with a grade of 40 percent in 2007 while Republican State Rep. Edmund Kuempel of Seguin improved by that same amount to 33 percent this year.