Birmingham, Ala. – Today (May 5th, 2022), the Alabama Policy Institute (API) released the results of its second annual legislative scorecard, the API Watchlist. As did the inaugural edition, this year’s scorecard grades legislators on pre-announced criteria including Key Votes based on API’s policy platform, attendance, public accessibility, and a consideration of local bills which raise taxes.
Overall, the legislature scored lower this year than in 2021. In fact, less than a fifth of the members of the Alabama House of Representatives earned a passing score (70% or above) and, in the Senate, less than half finished above 70%. In fact, of all the lawmakers graded, only 9 scored 80% or above to earn a favorable (green) rating. This number is down from 47 in last year’s scorecard. In 2021, we saw over a dozen perfect scores. No legislator earned a perfect score in 2022.
“With the state flush with cash and our neighbors cutting taxes left and right, this session offered Alabama’s legislature a historic opportunity to provide relief and take less from the hard-working business owners and people of Alabama,” API President and CEO Caleb Crosby said. “This opportunity, however, was squandered. Bills that could have positively impacted Alabama were ignored and the taxpayer was sidelined in favor of expanding government and rewarding public sector employees. The results of the scorecard reflect this reality.”
“Even so,” Crosby continued, “we applaud the legislators who scored well this year and thank them for their service to the state. We hope the scorecard will be a helpful tool for Alabama voters to see if their legislators are representing their values. If they are not, in just a few weeks they will have the opportunity to reshape Alabama’s government to align with their values more closely. That is what the principles of democracy and conservatism are all about.”
The API Watchlist is available here. You are invited to share the scorecard with your audience or quote from it in original content, provided that the work is properly attributed to API.