A+ Head of the Class

Five Senators voted right every time and were also present for nearly every vote. Sens. Kirk Watson (D-Austin), Carlos Uresti (D-San Antonio), José Menéndez (D-San Antonio), Borris Miles (D-Houston), and Sylvia Garcia (D-Houston) were our A+ students. Sen. Garcia in particular gets special praise for her efforts on the Senate Committee on Natural Resources where she tirelessly tried to improve or stop bad legislation and approve good legislation. In particular, she made a valiant effort to pass legislation on testing for lead in drinking water in schools, which was stymied by her Senate colleagues. 

A: Almost Perfect

Earning a near perfect score was Senator José Rodriguez (D-El Paso). The only reason Sen. Rodriguez didn’t get an A+ was his “yes” vote on SB 1045, a bill that he actually voted against in committee. He also authored an important bill to better regulate tires (SB 570) and several bills to improve enforcement at the Railroad Commission of Texas. He was also the author of an important amendment on the Railroad Commission.

B: Pretty Solid

Sen. Judith Zaffarini (D-Laredo) continued to make heroic efforts to improve her constituents’ public health and environment and she was an important voice on the Committee on Natural Resources, where she served as Co-Chair. However, her support for two bills to “grease” permitting on the water rights and air quality side prevented her from getting a top score. 

C: Needs Improvement

Sens. Royce West (D-Dallas) and John Whitmire (D-Houston) supported bills that cut out the public in permitting decisions and also voted to strip incentives for wind around military bases, but they continued to vote right on most basic pro-environmental efforts, including defending local protections for heritage trees.

D: Big Disappointments

Seven Senators - two Ds and five Rs - only voted right five or six times on the Sierra Club scorecard. These included Sens. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen), Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville), Joan Huffman (R-Houston), Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound), Charles Perry (R-Lubbock), Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) and Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury). Now, for the Republicans, who have some rationale for voting with the “leadership,” a D rating at least offers some basis for hope and improvement. We acknowledge these Senators for bucking with leadership at times, but for Democrats, this is a big disappointment, particularly the decision by Sen. Hinojosa to vote to approve Kelcy Warren for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. 

Sen. Lucio is a special case. From voting for Warren’s appointment to voting for pro-industry permitting bills, and allowing an anti-local bill (SB 636) out of his committee and initially placing it on the local calendar, he was a major disappointment on multiple levels. While we salute his work to help those living in Colonias and his efforts to secure funding for these constituents, his continual capitulation to polluting interests, his support of an anti-wind bill (SB 277), and his shameful support of discriminatory legislation like SB 6 (aka, the “bathroom bill”) makes us believe that perhaps it is time for him to consider a new career. Through the years, he has often been an environmental champion, but the last two sessions have shown a man more interested in pleasing the Senate leadership than representing his community.

F: Failures

Ten Senators earned an F, for earning a score of 20-39. All were Republicans. Sen. Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) is also a special case. While he earned an “F” because of his poor votes and his authorship of SB 1045, we do recognize the important role he held by sponsoring and working so hard to pass a decent version of the TERP bill (SB 26). We also acknowledge his even-handed leadership as Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources. Thus, we maintain some hope that he will improve his “score” in the future.

F- Epic Failures

Five Senators earned such low scores - a zero or a 19% - that we declare them epic failures. Sorry not sorry, Sens. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham), Bob Hall (R-Hedgewood), Konni Burton (R-Colleyville), and Van Taylor (R-Plano), you fail miserably on protecting natural resources and the environment.