The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Records provide glimpse into effectiveness
Attendance records in the General Assembly may not be the best gauge of a lawmaker’s effectiveness, but they can give taxpayers a glimpse of what they are getting for their money.
In the 151member Connecticut House of Representatives, 50 lawmakers had 100percent voting records this year, led by Majority Leader Matt Ritter and Minority Leader Themis Klarides. There were 107 lawmakers who voted on 95 percent or more of the nearly 400 bills.
In the 36member Senate, 15 lawmakers, including Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney and Majority Leader Bob Duff, voted on all of the more than 440 pieces of legislation. Thirty senators cast ballots on 95 percent or more.
But with 187 members of the legislature, there are a lot of personal issues, medical challenges and competing professional responsibilities that can affect attendance. And since much of the work is done at the committee level on 26 different panels, as well as legislative task forces, attendance is merely one way to tell if your lawmaker is on the job.
But in running for public office, candidates commit to the extra time required.
“Voters expect that the people for whom they voted will show up for what is considered their job,” said Cheri Quickmire, executive director of Common Cause in Connecticut, the election watchdog. “That means committee hearings as well as actual sessions. Voters need to know their state reps and senators pay attention to the issues and come in and vote when it’s
time to do that.”
She said that part of the initial calculations candidates for the General Assembly must make is the distance from their homes to Hartford; the relatively low pay; and the continuous public scrutiny.
There are no public postings of individual lawmakers’ percentage of missed votes.
“I think attendance matters, but 100percent is
probably not the best way to judge a legislator’s commitment or effectiveness,” said Tom Swan executive director of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, the consumeradvocacy organization. “I know, for example, folks negotiating the budget sometimes miss a vote. Or sometimes people have a family issue.”
“For me and the other leaders, during budget negotiations, we’re in a room with nonpartisan staff, Republicans or even the governor and if the bell goes off at a critical juncture, we might stay in the room,” said Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz, DBerlin, who made 95 percent of the House floor votes this year.
With that many people of various backgrounds from throughout the state, conflicts are inevitable, he said.
“You have doctor’s appointments, childrens’ appointments, business outside the Capitol and we understand that,” Aresimowicz said, noting that when major legislation is scheduled, lawmakers are alerted and rounded up by staff. “If there is a controversial bill, we do rally the
troops,” he said, stressing the importance of the committee process and the roles of members there. “It’s the fine balance of the parttime legislature that pays very low.”
“I think attendance for votes is a demonstration at least on a superficial level that you’re conscientious and on the job, but it’s not thoroughly indicative that you are leading in the process,” Looney, DNew Haven, said Friday, stressing that the committee level scrutiny is unheralded, while some legislation is “of not great consequence” when it reaches the floor of the Senate.
For instance, a few Senate votes are minor subjects that are put on a unanimous consent calendar.
Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, RNorth Haven, agreed that some issues are more important to be on the record than others. “Does missing a consent calendar make you an ineffective legislator? Of course not,” said Fasano, whose votes on 437 bill gave him a 98percent rating.
Looney recalled that in the 20162018 session, the 1818 tie meant that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle needed to be close to the Senate chamber at all times. The 2214 split this year gives majority Democrats a little more room.
“It’s useful to remind constituents if you have a 100percent voting record,” Looney said.
“I kind of have to be there,” said Duff, DNorwalk, who as majority leader introduces each bill on the Senate floor. He noted that sometimes a planned vote is expected to be overwhelming and lawmakers will stay focused elsewhere. “We may have 30 votes in a day and sometimes a senator is tied up in a meeting, but that’s unusual.”
If attendance is any gauge of commitment in the parttime General Assembly, where even the highest ranking lawmakers don’t make more than $43,700 a year and rankandfile lawmakers are paid $33,000 plus mileage, the two parties are about even. Twenty five Republicans and 25 Democrats in the House voted on every bill. In the Senate, 10 Democrats and five Republicans were perfect.
Some lawmakers had health issues, including Sen. Kevin Kelly, RStratford, with an 83percent voting record, and Rep. Fred Camillo, RGreenwich, with 73 percent.
“Overall, my attendance over 11 years has been very good,” said Camillo, who had rotatorcuff surgery in midMay, but came back to the Capitol only a few days later, his arm in a sling, ignoring doctors’ orders not to make the threehour daily roundtrip drive.