Humane Legislature--How did your reps rank?

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http://hslf.typepad.com/political_animal/2011/02/hot-off-the-press-the-2010-humane-scorecard.html

This non-profit group is part of the Humane Society, and closely watches votes on legislature in Congress that affects animals in some way. There is a downloadable PDF with the bills, and their journeys through the House and Senate.

This is from the website:

Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Hot Off the Press: The 2010 Humane Scorecard

Before Election Day, I posted a preliminary version of the 2010 Humane Scorecard, and after the end-of-year congressional “lame-duck” session, I provided a look at our year in review for animals. We made progress for animal protection on a number of fronts, and ended the 111th Congress with major policies enacted on crush videos, fur labeling, and shark finning.

I’m pleased to announce today that the Humane Society Legislative Fund has posted the final version of the 2010 Humane Scorecard, where you can track the performance of your federal lawmakers on key animal protection issues during the two-year session of the 111th Congress. We rated legislators based on their voting behavior on measures such as crush videos, primates as pets, service dogs for veterans, wild horses, and guns in parks; their cosponsorship of priority bills on puppy mills, horse slaughter, fur labeling, chimps in research, and overuse of antibiotics in factory farms; their support for funding the enforcement of animal welfare laws; and their leadership on animal protection. The Humane Scorecard is not a perfect measuring tool, but it is an invaluable one in gaining insight into how your lawmakers perform on the major issues of the day.

When the report card comes out each year, it helps clarify how the animal protection movement is doing geographically, by party affiliation, and in other categories. It helps us chart our course for animals by seeing where we have been effective, and where we need to improve. And much more needs to be done, as we have just begun 2011 and are pushing animal protection policy issues forward in the new congressional session.

Here are a few of the most important statistics from the 111th Congress:

•A bipartisan group of 36 Senators and 110 Representatives covering 38 states and two U.S. territories led as prime sponsors of pro-animal legislation and/or scored a perfect 100—more than one-third of the Senate and one-quarter of the House.
•The average Senate score was a 35, with Senate Democrats averaging 53, and Senate Republicans averaging 11.
•The average House score was a 58, with House Democrats averaging 76, and House Republicans averaging 32.
•Eight Senators scored 100 or 100+.
•Twenty-six Senators scored zero.
•Fifty-five Representatives scored 100 or 100+.
•Two Representatives scored zero.
•The New England region led the pack with an average Senate score of 73 and an average House score of 87.
•The Rocky Mountains were at the bottom with an average Senate score of 15 and an average House score of 35.
•California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey are the only states with an average Senate score of 100 or 100+.
•Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming were the only states in which both Senators scored zero.
•Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont are the only states with an average House score of 80 or above.
•Alaska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming are the only states with an average House score below 30.
I’d like to give special thanks to the following two Senators and eighteen Representatives who scored the highest possible 100+, meaning they had a perfect score on animal protection and also provided key leadership on a particular issue or issues:

•Sen. Joseph Lieberman (Conn.)
•Sen. John Kerry (Mass.)
•Rep. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.)
•Rep. Howard Berman (Calif.)
•Rep. Lois Capps (Calif.)
•Rep. Susan Davis (Calif.)
•Rep. Bob Filner (Calif.)
•Rep. George Miller (Calif.)
•Rep. Brad Sherman (Calif.)
•Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.)
•Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.)
•Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.)
•Rep. Gary Peters (Md.)
•Rep. Robert Andrews (N.J.)
•Rep. Rush Holt (N.J.)
•Rep. Nita Lowey (N.Y.)
•Rep. Ed Towns (N.Y.)
•Rep. David Price (N.C.)
•Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio)
•Rep. Norm Dicks (Wash.)

I wasn't surprised to see John Kerry's name there (He would have been a FINE president!) there, but was surprisingly pleased to see Joe Leiberman on the list, too.

One incontrovertible fact was quite marked: Very few Repugs had good votes on animal issues. I'm not aurprised. There were a couple, but for the most part, their votes certainly didn't have compassion in their minds.

[Zoeisright]

1. Not all all surprising that repukes are so bad on this issue.

After all, animals can't contribute to their campaign funds.

Michelle Bachmann (R-Insane) got a predictably horrible rating: 13 out of 100. I wonder if Quitter Palin will invite her to shoot wolves from helicopters. They're both bloodthirsty enough.

[old mark]

2. K&R- I notioce no one from PA is on that list-We had an anti-puppy mill law pass last year,

to protect dogs and breeds from terrible conditions in many rural breeders in PA...the newly GOP controlled legislature is currently workng to repeal that bill, which had almost 90% support from both parties when it passed.

Evidently republicans hate dogs, as well as unions and working people.

mark

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3. If you download the PDF

you will find that it is a gentleman from PA who co-sponsored the bill on the puppy mills. The bastards who do that to dogs need to be tied to a lead like the poor dogs, and treated like the real dogs they are!