CHEYENNE: Wyoming Liberty Group released its 2012 Key Liberty Votes today, a report on legislative votes related to individual freedom and responsibility that provides a view of a legislator’s liberty orientation.
“The votes we chose gave us a great opportunity to provide a snapshot of the liberty friendliness of the legislature this year,” said Charles Curley, the report’s lead author. “From corporate welfare to government transparency to personal privacy, we were able to look at a range of issues important to the ability of citizens in the state to live in a free and prosperous society.”
Report compilers and authors selected six votes in the House and six in the Senate as indicators of a liberty-oriented legislature. They then recorded Aye or Nay votes and calculated the total votes, with six being the highest possible score for liberty. Eleven Representatives (Donald Burkhart, Jr, Kathy Davison, Amy Edmonds, John Eklund, Kendell Kroeker, Bunky Loucks, Michael Madden, Robert McKim, Mark Semlek, Tim Stubson, and Matt Teeters) achieved a score of six. However no one in the Senate did.
Only one legislator, Patrick Goggles, achieved a score of zero. However Goggles was absent for three of the votes.
“House representatives were definitely more liberty-friendly than Senators this year,” said Curley. “In 2010, the entire House was up for election, but only half the Senate. This supports the contention that the 2010 election was a mandate for liberty.”
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For complete details on these votes and the legislators’ scores, please go to the Key Liberty Votes report.
For more information, please contact:
Charles Curley, Lead Author, Key Liberty Votes, 307-864-2723, charles.curley@wyliberty.org
