2015 Legislative Scorecard

The recent legislative session has made one thing abundantly clear: elections matter.

When Governor Paul LePage won a second term on Election Day in November and Republicans won a small majority in the state Senate, the political landscape in Maine shifted abruptly.

Mainers again are faced with a divided government and the prospect of little progress on issues that matter to the majority of families. Health care expansion for 70,000 Mainers as well as a modest increase in the minimum wage are just a few examples of important issues where a middle ground between the two chambers couldn’t be reached. Governor LePage continues to govern uncooperatively, engaging in public spats with the legislature and further isolating himself from the legislative process.

In the end, despite LePage’s intransigence and dedicated support from a wing of hardline conservative legislators in the House, Democratic and Republic leaders in the House and Senate brokered a state budget deal that averted a government shutdown and rejected many of the Governor’s most extreme cuts.

The administration’s procedural error which led to 71 bills becoming law without the governor’s signature, including funding for aid for asylum seeking immigrants and expanded funding for reproductive health care, might have been the most unexpected and productive result of the legislative session.     

The following scorecard of voting records of members of the 127th Maine Legislature showcases a set of bills from some of the issue areas that are most important to the members of the Maine People’s Alliance. Legislators’ overall percentage scores should give a good sense of where they stand not just on the individual issues, but their fundamental values, including where they stand on building strong communities, investing in the future, and advancing fairness, equality, and justice for all Maine people.