ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES OF NEW YORK & EPL/ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES
2009 SCORING SYSTEM  

For 40 years, Environmental Advocates of New York has issued memos in support of, or opposition to, bills that impact New York State’s environment. Environmental Advocates’ sister organization EPL/Environmental Advocates tracks lawmakers’ votes on these bills and publishes an annual Voters’ Guide, a comprehensive look at legislators’ environmental voting records. Voters’ Guide scores are based on two sets of criteria:

Floor votes on all bills memoed and rated by Environmental Advocates of New York; and support for Super Bills.

2009 Revision to Scoring System
Beginning this year, legislators who miss votes on more than 20 percent of the environmental bills included in the scorecard will receive a score of "incomplete" ("I") in the Voters' Guide. Lawmakers who vote on 80 percent or more of these bills will be scored. Please note that incomplete scores will not be factored into house averages.

SCORING SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

Floor Votes: Trees  & Smokestacks
Environmental Advocates issues memos on environmental bills using a tree and smokestack rating system. Bills are rated according to their potential impact, either beneficial or detrimental, on New York's environment.

The rating system is designed to place appropriate emphasis on each bill. Legislators can earn between 1 and 3 points for votes in support of bills rated by Environmental Advocates as 1-, 2- or 3-tree bills.  Likewise, legislators can earn between 1 and 3 points for votes against bills that are given a rating of 1, 2 or 3 smokestacks. Floor votes on all rated bills are tracked and totaled, and then weighted scores are calculated for each legislator.

Most bill memos are issued when legislation first appears on a committee agenda. Position statements on bills rated by Environmental Advocates are distributed to lawmakers and are posted to the Capitol Watch section of our website.

SUPER BILLS
Legislators’ scores are affected by action on the priority Super Bills, whether or not they receive a floor vote. The Super Bills are considered 3-tree bills for weighting purposes. 

The Super Bills are identified by the Green Panel, which includes the leaders of more than a dozen of New York’s environmental organizations. The Green Panel has the option of adding a Super Bill during the course of a legislative session or removing a bill if it is no longer worthy of Super Bill status.

Legislators can earn points for Super Bills as follows:  

Floor vote in favor. If a legislator votes for the bill when it reaches the floor, the lawmaker is recognized as having voted for a 3-tree bill. 

Becoming law. If a Super Bill is passed by both houses and signed into law by the Governor, all legislators who voted for the bill receive 3 points, plus 2 bonus points.

Budget action. If substantively similar language is included in the state budget that meets the stated goals of any one of the Super Bills, and is signed by the Governor, all legislators receive full credit (3 points).

If a Super Bill does not receive a floor vote, lawmakers are still scored.

Legislators earn credit for supporting Super Bills as follows:

Co-sponsoring. Lawmakers receive half credit (1.5 points of a 3-tree bill) for any Super Bills they sponsor or co-sponsor. Environmental Advocates of New York encourages legislators to immediately contact bill sponsors in order to receive co-sponsorship credit in our scoring system. Those who request to be added as a co-sponsor to a bill, but are not recognized as co-sponsors, may earn credit if they forward a copy of the buck/blue slip to EPL/Environmental Advocates.

Committee votes. Lawmakers receive half credit (1.5 points of a 3-tree bill) if they vote in favor of a Super Bill in Committee. All sitting members of a committee considering a Super Bill during session have the opportunity to receive points for their support. If a legislator sits on more than one committee considering a Super Bill, points are assigned based on the lawmaker’s most recent action on the bill. A Super Bill co-sponsor who fails to vote in favor of that bill in committee forgoes points.

Votes on motions to discharge. If a motion to discharge or petition a Super Bill out of committee is brought (on an identical or more stringent bill), the vote on the motion is counted as a regular vote on the Super Bill. Legislators voting in favor of a motion to petition or discharge a Super Bill out of committee receive 3 points. If the Super Bill itself is voted on subsequently, that floor vote is counted rather than previous support for the motion to discharge.

Please note that these points are not cumulative with the exception of bonus points that are awarded in the event that a bill becomes law. Points are assigned at the conclusion of the legislative session based on the last action on a Super Bill.

For example, if a legislator co-sponsors a bill, and the bill passes in that house, points are assigned only for the bill having passed (3 points). However, if the bill is later signed by the Governor, 2 bonus points are awarded (3 + 2 = 5) Legislators who do not act on the Super Bills forgo points.

Environmental Advocates of New York will continue to score all other bills as we have in the past. For more information, please call (518) 462-5526.