Local Legislators Earn Solid Marks from Georgia Chamber

State Rep. Paulette Braddock, R-Hiram, recently earned an “A” grade from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce for her strong support of Chamber-favored issues during the 2011 legislative session. The Chamber released its first true legislative scorecard for the 2011-2012 General Assembly, which includes midterm grades for state House and Senate members based upon their votes on legislation deemed important to economic growth and job creation. The eight-page Georgia Chamber Scorecard can be found in its entirety attached to this article.

Other Paulding legislators also earned strong marks from the Chamber, with Sen. Bill Heath, R-Bremen, and Rep. Howard Maxwell, R-Dallas, earning “B” grades.

“Ensuring Georgia maintains a business-friendly environment that encourages job creation and economic growth should be the top priority for our legislature,” said Georgia Chamber President and CEO Chris Clark in a news release.

During the 2011 legislative session, Chamber members identified 11 bills to include in the report. Votes that legislators were graded on included health care, education, business and industry, legal, compliance, economic development and the environment.

This is the first year the Chamber has included letter grades in its report. Legislators were assigned midterm grades of A, B, C, or U based on 11 Chamber bills on the scorecard in the House and 10 bills in the Senate. To receive a grade, the legislator must have been present to vote for 50 percent of the total scorecard votes. If the legislator was not present for 50 percent of the votes, they received an “N/A” grade.

For some legislators, subjective factors, including but not limited to bill sponsorship, speaking for or against bills and committee votes, were taken into account.

Overall, 65 legislators received grades of “A” or higher—17 state senators and 48 state representatives.

Each legislator’s grade reflects a midterm assessment of their support of business community priorities. A final grade will be given to each elected official following the 2012 session of the Georgia General Assembly.