Welcome to our 2011 Legislative Scorecard

Welcome to Conservation Voters New Mexico’s (CVNM’s) annual conservation scorecard for the 2011 legislature…  This is your opportunity to find out if your elected officials are representing your conservation values in the state legislature.  Notice something different?  You’ve already noticed that this year’s scorecard is presented almost exclusively online.  The goal is to make the scorecard more interactive and user-friendly, while also being more environmentally-friendly!

What’s New This Year

Actually, you’ll notice quite a few things that are different about our 2011 Legislative Scorecard.  One of the biggest changes is that there are no numerical scores this year.  Why, you ask?

Jennifer Biedscheid, CVNM Board Chair, with Olive (future state legislator!) and Nathan Jr. (woof!)

The reason is quite simple: in 2011, the most important votes were cast in a handful of committees, on which only a small number of legislators serve.  In fact, of the 27 top priority bills, only a single measure resulted in a floor vote on which all Representatives’ positions could be recorded. The full Senate also cast only one priority vote.

The result is that members of a few committees have many critical conservation votes on record, while most other legislators cast very few key votes this session.  In the end, we felt it would be unfair to attach a numeric score to most legislators based on only a small number of votes—especially when none of those votes were on the most important measures.

Where Do Your Legislators Stand on Conservation?

What is most important, however, is that you can still see how your state Senator and Representative voted on conservation issues that matter to you.  Simply select your state legislators to view their voting records.  You’ll see on which critical environmental measures they voted, and—most importantly—whether they represented your conservation values on those issues.

We hope this scorecard will be a tool to help you communicate with your legislators about the conservation issues that matter to you the most.  Remember to say ‘thanks’ or ‘no thanks’—it’s the only way elected officials will know if they’re representing their constituents well.

Thanks very much for visiting our scorecard, and remember that protecting our Land of Enchantment starts with you!

Jennifer Biedscheid
Chair, Board of Directors
Conservation Voters New Mexico