FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 8, 2020
Contact: Kathryn Phillips--916-893-8494 (mobile)
Sierra Club California Releases 2020 Legislative Report Card:
Pandemic Year Yields Losses for the Environment and Low Scores for Lawmakers
SACRAMENTO – Sierra Club California released its 2020 report card today that scores the performance of legislators and the governor on environmental issues.
The year was a disappointment for environmental policy advocates. Just 25 bills advancing environmental protection made it to the governor’s desk, and of those, only two warranted inclusion on the report card. Meanwhile with few exceptions, bills that would have made significant changes in environmental policy were stopped in the legislature, including some contained within the hundreds of bills that were held to accommodate the compressed legislative year required by the COVID-19 pandemic response.
This year, just eight assembly members and zero senators earned 100-percent scores. Twenty-one legislators, all Republicans, received a score of zero.
The report card also provides an overview of the Newsom administration’s second year in office. Generally, the governor continues to demonstrate a mixed commitment to the environment.
“The governor scores a high C to a low B on his bill signing record. And he needs to improve in most areas of environmental policy,” said Kathryn Phillips, director of Sierra Club California. “That need to improve was most apparent when he presented a budget proposal in May that nearly eviscerated environmental agencies’ budgets. Fortunately, the legislature stepped in and protected California.”
Phillips added that “more recently, the governor has recognized the need to take climate action. We’ve appreciated that recognition and hope we can count on more vigorous climate action going forward.”
One bill in particular was responsible for dragging down many legislators’ scores. Senate Bill 559 by Sen. Melissa Hurtado, would have required the state’s taxpayers to foot the bill to repair a federally funded canal serving big agricultural corporations.The canal needs repairs largely because of groundwater overdraft by agriculture.
Sierra Club California opposed the bill and the governor vetoed it.
To prepare the report card, Sierra Club California staff selected nine bills to score in the senate and nine bills to score in the assembly. The bills represent a cross-section of environmental and environmental justice issues, provided vote counts that distinguish the most environmentally consistent legislators, and were among the legislation that Sierra Club’s staff and volunteers were most actively engaged in this year.
How each legislator voted on each bill was noted and a score was calculated by dividing the number of times the legislator voted with Sierra Club’s position by the total number of bills for which the legislator was present to cast a vote.
The report card is available online at Sierra Club California’s website.
The assembly members who earned perfect scores on the report card are:
Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (Assembly District 16), David Chiu (AD 17), Jesse Gabriel (AD 45), Todd Gloria (AD 78), Sydney Kamlager (AD 54), Al Muratsuchi (AD 66), Phil Ting (AD 19), and Buffy Wicks (AD 15).
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory advocacy arm of the 13 Sierra Club chapters in California, representing more than 500,000 members and supporters statewide.