FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2016
Contact: Mike Berkowitz, (248) 345-9808, mike.berkowitz@sierraclub.org
Sierra Club: State Lawmakers Get Low Marks
Latest Scorecard Shows House Members Get a “D” and Senate Receives a Failing Grade On Key Environmental Votes
LANSING - The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter today released its Legislative Scorecard, which tracked environmental voting behavior of state House and Senate members during the 2015-16 legislative session. The Michigan Senate scored a failing grade of 58 percent, with the House receiving a narrow passing grade of 62 percent. While the Scorecard generally showed that Democrats voted to maintain or strengthen environmental protections- more disturbingly - it showed Republicans generally voted to weaken or eliminate environmental protections.
“The 2015-2016 state Legislature was regressive when it comes to environmental protection, rolling back many of the safeguards we’ve had in place for decades, while also attacking our democracy. It’s extremely frustrating that the environment has become a partisan political issue,” said Mike Berkowitz, the Michigan Legislative Director for the Sierra Club. “Environmental protections are a no-brainer for all Michigan residents. Our members find it hard to believe that so many of our elected officials are voting against clean air, clean water, and public health. We hope that when lawmakers return from their summer recess, they will see our scorecard and be motivated to get rid of this anti-environment attitude.”
The Sierra Club’s Scorecard calculated the results based upon 11 roll call votes in the House and Senate for the 2015-2016 legislative session. According to the Scorecard, House Democrats scored an average of 95 percent, while House Republicans scored an average of 37 percent. Senate Democrats scored an average of 96 percent, while Senate Republicans scored an average of 42 percent. 41 lawmakers scored a perfect 100 percent. A full list of “Environmental Champions” (91-100 percent), “Environmental Stewards” (80-90 percent), and “Pollution Promoters” (zero-36 percent) is included at the end of this release. Sterling Heights state Sen. Tory Rocca (R-10) was the highest scoring Republican with a 100 percent, second highest in the GOP was state Sen. Rick Jones (R-24) from Grand Ledge at 73 percent, and third highest was Troy state Rep. Martin Howrylak (R-41) at 64 percent. Representatives Charles Brunner (D-96) and Scott Dianda (D-110) were the lowest scoring House Democrats, receiving a 73 percent, and Virgil Smith (D-4) in the Senate with a 63 percent. The full scorecard is available here. A full description of the bills included in the scorecard is available here.
“Our legislature has the wrong priorities when it comes to protecting Michigan’s environment” said James D’Amour, a member of Michigan Sierra Club’s Political Committee who was once an active member of the Republican Party. “Clean air and clean water should not be partisan issues. We used to be leaders in making conservation a top priority, but no longer. This overall direction the GOP has been taking is disappointing and disheartening for people like me who care about the environment.”
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The Sierra Club is the nation’s largest grassroots environmental organization, with over 80,000 members and supporters in Michigan.
Michigan Senate
Environmental Champions (91-100%)
District
|
Name
|
Party
|
Score (%)
|
1
|
Coleman Young II
|
D
|
100
|
2
|
Bert Johnson
|
D
|
100
|
3
|
Morris Hood III
|
D
|
100
|
5
|
David Knezak
|
D
|
100
|
6
|
Hoon-Yung Hopgood
|
D
|
100
|
10
|
Tory Rocca
|
R
|
100
|
11
|
Vincent Gregory
|
D
|
100
|
18
|
Rebekah Warren
|
D
|
100
|
23
|
Curtis Hertel Jr.
|
D
|
100
|
27
|
Jim Ananich
|
D
|
100
|
9
|
Steven Bieda
|
D
|
91
|
Environmental Stewards (80-90%)
None
Pollution Promoters (36% and below)
District
|
Name
|
Party
|
Score (%)
|
12
|
Jim Marleau
|
R
|
36
|
13
|
Marty Knollenburg
|
R
|
36
|
14
|
David Robertson
|
R
|
36
|
15
|
Mike Kowall
|
R
|
36
|
17
|
Dale Zorn
|
R
|
36
|
21
|
John Proos
|
R
|
36
|
25
|
Phil Pavlov
|
R
|
36
|
26
|
Tonya Schuitmaker
|
R
|
36
|
28
|
Peter MacGregor
|
R
|
36
|
29
|
Dave Hildenbrand
|
R
|
36
|
30
|
Arlan Meekhof
|
R
|
36
|
33
|
Judy Emmons
|
R
|
36
|
34
|
Goeff Hansen
|
R
|
36
|
35
|
Darwin Booher
|
R
|
36
|
36
|
Jim Stamas
|
R
|
36
|
37
|
Wayne Schmidt
|
R
|
36
|
16
|
Mike Shirkey
|
R
|
27
|
Michigan House
Environmental Champions (91-100%)
District
|
Name
|
Party
|
Score (%)
|
1
|
Brian Banks
|
D
|
100
|
2
|
Alberta Talabi
|
D
|
100
|
5
|
Fred Durhal
|
D
|
100
|
6
|
Stephanie Chang
|
D
|
100
|
7
|
LaTanya Garrett
|
D
|
100
|
11
|
Julie Plawecki
|
D
|
100
|
12
|
Erika Geiss
|
D
|
100
|
13
|
Frank Liberati
|
D
|
100
|
15
|
George Darany
|
D
|
100
|
18
|
Sarah Roberts
|
D
|
100
|
21
|
Kristy Pagan
|
D
|
100
|
26
|
Jim Townsend
|
D
|
100
|
27
|
Robert Wittenberg
|
D
|
100
|
28
|
Derek Miller
|
D
|
100
|
29
|
Tim Greimel
|
D
|
100
|
31
|
Marilyn Lane
|
D
|
100
|
35
|
Jeremy Moss
|
D
|
100
|
37
|
Christine Greig
|
D
|
100
|
48
|
Pam Faris
|
D
|
100
|
49
|
Phil Phelps
|
D
|
100
|
52
|
Gretchen Driskell
|
D
|
100
|
53
|
Jeff Irwin
|
D
|
100
|
55
|
Adam Zemke
|
D
|
100
|
60
|
Jon Hoadley
|
D
|
100
|
67
|
Tom Cochran
|
D
|
100
|
69
|
Sam Singh
|
D
|
100
|
75
|
David LaGrand
|
D
|
100
|
76
|
Winnie Brinks
|
D
|
100
|
92
|
Marcia Hovey-Wright
|
D
|
100
|
95
|
Vanessa Guerra
|
D
|
100
|
109
|
John Kivela
|
D
|
100
|
3
|
Wendell Byrd
|
D
|
91
|
8
|
Sherry Gay-Dagnogo
|
D
|
91
|
9
|
Harvey Santana
|
D
|
91
|
16
|
Robert Kosowski
|
D
|
91
|
17
|
Bill LaVoy
|
D
|
91
|
25
|
Henry Yanez
|
D
|
91
|
34
|
Sheldon Neeley
|
D
|
91
|
68
|
Andy Schor
|
D
|
91
|
Environmental Stewards (80-90%)
District
|
Name
|
Party
|
Score (%)
|
22
|
John Chirkun
|
D
|
90
|
4
|
Rose Mary Robinson
|
D
|
82
|
10
|
Leslie Love
|
D
|
82
|
14
|
Paul Clemente
|
D
|
82
|
50
|
Charles Smiley
|
D
|
82
|
Pollution Promoters (36% and below)
District
|
Name
|
Party
|
Score (%)
|
19
|
Laura Cox
|
R
|
36
|
20
|
Kurt Heise
|
R
|
36
|
24
|
Anthony Forlini
|
R
|
36
|
30
|
Jeff Farrington
|
R
|
36
|
32
|
Andrea LaFontaine
|
R
|
36
|
36
|
Peter Lucido
|
R
|
36
|
38
|
Kathy Crawford
|
R
|
36
|
39
|
Klint Kesto
|
R
|
36
|
40
|
Michael McCready
|
R
|
36
|
42
|
Lana Theis
|
R
|
36
|
43
|
Jim Tedder
|
R
|
36
|
44
|
Jim Runestad
|
R
|
36
|
45
|
Michael Webber
|
R
|
36
|
46
|
Bradford Jacobsen
|
R
|
36
|
47
|
Hank Vaupel
|
R
|
36
|
51
|
Joseph Graves
|
R
|
36
|
56
|
Jason Sheppard
|
R
|
36
|
57
|
Nancy Jenkins
|
R
|
36
|
58
|
Eric Leutheuser
|
R
|
36
|
59
|
Aaron Miller
|
R
|
36
|
61
|
Brandt Iden
|
R
|
36
|
63
|
David Maturen
|
R
|
36
|
64
|
Earl Poleski
|
R
|
36
|
65
|
Brett Roberts
|
R
|
36
|
66
|
Aric Nesbitt
|
R
|
36
|
70
|
Rick Outman
|
R
|
36
|
72
|
Ken Yonker
|
R
|
36
|
73
|
Chris Afendoulis
|
R
|
36
|
74
|
Rob VerHeulen
|
R
|
36
|
79
|
Al Pscholka
|
R
|
36
|
81
|
Dan Lauwers
|
R
|
36
|
84
|
Edward Canfield
|
R
|
36
|
86
|
Lisa Lyons
|
R
|
36
|
87
|
Mike Callton
|
R
|
36
|
88
|
Roger Victory
|
R
|
36
|
89
|
Amanda Price
|
R
|
36
|
90
|
Daniela Garcia
|
R
|
36
|
91
|
Holly Hughes
|
R
|
36
|
93
|
Tom Leonard
|
R
|
36
|
94
|
Tim Kelly
|
R
|
36
|
97
|
Joel Johnson
|
R
|
36
|
99
|
Kevin Cotter
|
R
|
36
|
100
|
Jon Bumstead
|
R
|
36
|
104
|
Larry Inman
|
R
|
36
|
106
|
Peter Pettalia
|
R
|
36
|
107
|
Lee Chatfield
|
R
|
36
|
80
|
Mary Whiteford
|
R
|
33
|
23
|
Pat Somerville
|
R
|
27
|
33
|
Ken Goike
|
R
|
27
|
71
|
Tom Barrett
|
R
|
27
|
77
|
Tom Hooker
|
R
|
27
|
98
|
Gary Glenn
|
R
|
27
|
105
|
Triston Cole
|
R
|
27
|
101
|
Ray Franz
|
R
|
18
|
