How Pro-Growth is IL’s Congressional Delegation?
The average 2009 score for Illinois
by Brian Costin
The Club for Growth recently conducted an interesting survey called the “Club’s Congressional Scorecard” on legislators voting records on how pro-growth they are.
The Club for Growth describes itself as “a national network of thousands of pro-growth Americans, from all walks of life, who believe that prosperity and opportunity come through economic freedom.”
The survey examines legislators voting record on 25 bills from 2009 focusing on the following categories.
- Reduce income tax rates.
- Death tax repeal.
- Limited government through limited spending (budget reform).
- Social Security reform with personal retirement accounts.
- Expanding trade freedom (free trade).
- End abusive lawsuits through medical malpractice and tort reform.
- Education choice.
- Regulatory reform and deregulation.
The two most weighted bills in the survey was the Cap & Trade bill and the “Obamacare” bill. The two bills are each worth 10% of the total score, and the pro-growth position was voting NO on those pieces of legislation.
So how did Illinois Legislators do?
The average 2009 score for Illinois’s U.S. Representatives is a 33%, for our U.S. Senators it is 3%.
From first-to-worst here is how our Senators and Representatives did individually in 2009.
88% Peter J. Roskam – Illinois 6th District
86% John Shimkus – Illinois 19th District
85% Donald Manzullo – Illinois 16th District
79% Timothy V. Johnson – Illinois 15th District
77% Judy Biggert – Illinois 13th District
72% Aaron Schock – Illinois 18th District
58% Mark Kirk – Illinois 10th District
20% Bill Foster – Illinois 14th District
16% Melissa Bean – Illinois 8th District
15% Jerry Costello – Illinois 12th District
14% Debbie Halvorson – Illinois 11th District
13% Michael Quigley – Illinois 5th District
6% Daniel Lipinski – Illinois 3rd District
3% Dick Durbin – U.S. Senate
3% Roland Burris – U.S. Senate
2% Bobby L. Rush – Illinois 1st District
0% Danny K. Davis – Illinois 7th District
0% Luis Gutierrez – Illinois 4th District
0% Phil Hare – Illinois 17th District
0% Jesse L. Jackson Jr. – Illinois 2nd District
0% Jan Schakowsky – Illinois 9th District