Voces Unidas Action Fund released its 2023 Legislative Scorecard today, tracking the votes of 5 local state lawmakers representing Garfield, Eagle, Pitkin, Lake and Summit counties against our legislative priorities during the 2023 legislative session.
This year's legislative scorecard examined local lawmakers’ votes on 25 priority bills across 6 policy areas — Immigrant Rights, Environmental/Climate Justice, Health/Reproductive Justice, Housing Justice, Gun Safety/Criminal Justice Reform, and Education Justice.
Voces Unidas actively lobbies for or against legislative proposals based on how they impact the central-mountain Latino community. Our positions on legislation are informed by community leaders from across the region and polling research of Latino voters.
The organization has been releasing a scorecard at the end of each legislative session since 2021. Voces Unidas believes that legislative scorecards are an effective tool to evaluate the performance of legislators and to hold them accountable for their votes.
We hope our scorecards encourage legislators to be more transparent and responsive to all constituents, especially Latinos in the central-mountain region.
Three lawmakers received top marks after voting with us 90% of the time or higher
Representatives Elizabeth Velasco and Meghan Lukens both earned an A+ for voting with us 100% of the time on the possible 21 votes we tracked for them in the House this session. (Click on the individual names to see their actual votes).
Our third top-grade earner is Speaker Julie McCluskie, who also received a solid A for voting with us 20 times out of the possible 21 votes we tracked for her in the House this session. Speaker McCluskie also gets special kudos for her leadership and support as our priorities moved successfully through the House.
Senator Dylan Roberts earned a B for voting with us 17 times out of the possible 20 votes we tracked for him in the Senate this session. He earned an A+ in 3 out of 6 policy categories, but his overall grade was impacted by his votes on issues about Housing Justice (C) and Gun Safety/Criminal Justice Reform (C). Sen. Roberts was with us on many important pieces of legislation, and we look forward to continuing to engage with him to see if we can find additional alignment in the future.
In his first year in the Senate, but for the third year in a row, Senator Perry Will had the lowest grade (F) on our Legislative Scorecard. Sen. Will voted with us 5 times out of the possible 20 votes we tracked for him in the Senate this session. While he partnered with Voces Unidas as a prime sponsor of one tier 1 priority bill, Inclusive Language In Emergency Situations (HB23-1237), his overall voting record on most other bills earned him an F in 5 out of the 6 policy categories.
Rep. Velasco earns "Local Legislative Champion" designation in 2023
Congratulations to Rep. Velasco for earning the 2023 Local Legislative Champion designation for voting with us 100% of the time and partnering with Voces Unidas on 3 priority bills – Mobile Home Park Water Quality (HB23-1257), Inclusive Language In Emergency Situations (HB23-1237), and Repeal Prohibition Local Residential Rent Control (HB23-1115).
The Local Legislative Champion designation is reserved for a central-mountain lawmaker who is 100% aligned with our values and goes above and beyond to champion our legislative agenda in any given legislative session.
Rep. Boesenecker earns new "Community Ally" designation in 2023
Congratulations to Representative Andrew Boesenecker for earning our brand new Community Ally designation in 2023. While he doesn't represent the central-mountain communities, Rep. Boesenecker distinguished himself this year by voting with us 100% of the time and partnering with Voces Unidas on one of our priority bills -- Mobile Home Park Water Quality (HB23-1257).
The Community Ally designation is reserved for a lawmaker outside of the central-mountain region who is 100% aligned with our values and goes above and beyond to champion our legislative agenda in any given legislative session.
You can find additional details -- and see how all lawmakers in the state performed -- below or on our website at www.vocesunidasaction.org/policy.