Do rankings favor Democrats?
The News & Observer of Raleigh (registration required) raises some valid questions about the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research's latest rankings of state legislators' effectiveness.
"Making waves can raise a legislator's effectiveness ranking, at least if that House member is a Democrat," notes an item in the N&O's Under the Dome column.
As an example, the paper cites Rep. Linda Coleman, a Knightdale Democrat who stalled the state budget in a failed push for state employee raises.
Coleman ranked 38th of 120 House members, the highest in history for a first-term female member of the House and the fifth-highest for a freshman overall.
Why then, was the same standard not applied to Republicans, including John Blust of Greensboro, whose crusade for ethical reforms and criticism of the House leadership are gaining traction now?
Yet Blust ranked 119th. Where's the fairness in that?
Comments (3)
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It is very difficult to get much done when serving as a member of the minority party in a legislature.
Posted on April 13, 2006 4:52 PM
Allen: If I had to guess, Coleman's rankings stem from her work in the budget process on behalf of state workers. She ground the legislature - House and Senate - to a stand still as part of her effort to cut a deal on behalf of state workers. Whether you consider that a good thing or not, it certainly had some influence...and she at least got some attention focused on something she felt was ignored.
Was she in a position to do that because she was a Democrat? Yes and no. In that case, she was really in that position because she was willing to vote to help pass the budget. If the house leadership believed a Republican would have crossed over to vote for the budget bill, what ever constituency they were concerned about might have gotten some attention as well. (Say what you will about the Speaker, he'll take his votes where he can get 'em.)
Blust certainly stirs the pot...but at the end of the day has had little influence over the budget process and has gotten exactly zero bills he's sponsored passed this session. In a way, that's tragic...no representative should be disenfranchised, no matter how badly they cheese off the leadership.
But if what you're measuring is effectiveness, then you get what you get. (Full disclosure, I'm one of many people who filled out that survey.)
Could you make an argument that Blust should be a few notches higher? Yup. Could you make an argument that Coleman should be a few notches lower? Definitely...she got too much credit for 24 hours of her tenure. But are their relative positions right? Yes.
Posted on April 15, 2006 11:13 PM
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Posted on November 7, 2006 11:33 AM