To see why a specific legislator received a certain grade, click on the Your County line in the left margin of this page.  Then click on the appropriate county.

Life Gauge assigns each legislator a grade, based on three criteria.

First ---  What harmful actions has this legislator done?  A vote or action against a good bill gives a legislator an F.  No additional votes or actions outweigh a harmful action.  Legislators who appoint harmful committee chairs also earn an F, no matter what other votes or actions they take.

Second ---  Has this legislator been unwilling to help Life Gauge?  A failure to do anything for Life Gauge earns a D.  No other considerations outweigh this failure to help.

Third --- What has the legislator done to help Life Gauge put pressure on the leaders in the House?  In the past Life Gauge asked legislators to introduce one or two Life Gauge bills.  Now Life Gauge asks legislators to make a motion asking for a vote on a Constitutional Amendment.  A legislator who makes the motion earns an A.  Those who vote against the motion earn an F.  Those who vote for it but don't introduce it earn something between a B and a D.

Introducing a bill is not anything to be excited about.  We introduced scores of bills over the last ten years, and they don't provide enough firepower to knock out the committee chairmen who kill them.  We need actual floor votes, and those happen when a helpful legislator makes the motion to make them happen.

F  -- obstructed any legislation that protects babies
D or C or B -- cooperated with Life Gauge in some minimal way.
A -- completely cooperated with Life Gauge.

Life Gauge grades are based on a legislator's willingness to cooperate with Life Gauge, not on other votes or actions taken independently of Life Gauge, except as follows --

Click Your County in the left margin to see your legislators' grades.