The Washington Conservation Voters’ Legislative Scorecard is an important tool that shines light on whether your state legislator prioritizes clean air, clean water, healthy communities, protecting workers, and investing in policies that address climate change, cleaning up toxic pollution, and restoring our forests, waters, and fish for future generations.
Votes
Clean Fuels Standard – HB 1091: Requires transportation fuel producers to reduce the carbon intensity in their products or invest in the production of cleaner fuels, such as sustainable biofuels and electricity. Evergreen Future Pillar: Act on Climate
Climate Commitment Act – SB 5126: Forces climate polluters to pay for the harm they cause and invests in solutions to reduce pollution and enhance the ability for people and the environment to address climate impacts. Evergreen Future Pillar: Act on Climate
Climate Super-Pollutants – HB 1050: Places strict regulations on hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are a well-known climate super-pollutant. Evergreen Future Pillar: Act on Climate
Transportation For All/Move Ahead Washington — SB 5974: Funds the most innovative, equitable, and climate responsible transportation infrastructure package in state history with the largest investment in transit, cleaner transportation options, and reducing toxic runoff from our roads. Evergreen Future Pillar: Act on Climate
Climate Change And Buildings — SB 5722: This bill sets benchmarks and incentives for enhancing energy efficiency in buildings – the fastest growing sector of climate pollution — as well as tools to prevent displacement. Evergreen Future Pillar: Act on Climate
Climate Smart Energy Codes — HB 1770: Modernizes building codes to include climate change standards, prepare for net-zero technology, and assess affordability, which helps households contribute to addressing climate change and have safe, affordable, and efficient homes. Evergreen Future Pillar: Act on Climate
Including Salmon Recovery In Land Use Planning — HB 1117: Integrates salmon recovery into the state land use law, the Growth Management Act, to enhance habitat recovery and prevent salmon extinction. Evergreen Future Pillar: Clean Water and Healthy Forests
Voting Rights Restoration — HB 1078: Restores voting rights to more than 20,000 formerly incarcerated people so that more of our friends, family members, and neighbors have access to democracy. Evergreen Future Pillar: Environmental Justice and Public Health
Add Climate To Growth Management Act – HB 1099: Updates the state land use planning law, the Growth Management Act, to include a climate goal designed to reduce pollution and enhance resilience to protect the environment and people from climate impacts. Evergreen Future Pillar: Act on Climate
Toxic-Free Cosmetics — SB 5703: Phases out the use of specific dangerous chemicals commonly found in cosmetic products. Evergreen Future Pillar: Clean Water and Healthy Forests
Housing and Growth Management — HB 1220: Directs local governments to plan in ways that build more housing, ensure affordability across a range of income levels, address racial disparities, and prevent displacement. Evergreen Future Pillar: Environmental Justice and Public Health
Healthy Environment All (HEAL) Act – SB 5141: Gives frontline communities most impacted by environmental harm a stronger voice in decisionmaking by increasing accessibility and community engagement requirements, creating a state Environmental Justice Council, providing a consistent definition of environmental justice and more. Evergreen Future Pillar: Environmental Justice and Public Health
Strengthen The WA Voting Rights Act — SB 5597: Helps avoid costly lawsuits, empower local communities, and ensure our state continues to lead the way in safeguarding access to democracy. Evergreen Future Pillar: Environmental Justice and Public Health
Closing The Sprawl Loophole – SB 5042: Addresses a loophole in state law that allowed counties to permit building developments outside of urban growth areas leading to sprawl, reduced farm and natural resource lands, and increased costs for providing public services. Evergreen Future Pillar: Hold Corporate Polluters Accountable
Why we produce a scorecard
The Washington Conservation Voters’ Legislative Scorecard is an important tool that shines light on whether your state legislator prioritizes clean air, clean water, healthy communities, protecting workers,
Since 1992, Washington Conservation Voters has provided a biannual Legislative Scorecard, a non-partisan guide that gives voters a snapshot of how state legislators performed on the leading environmental issues and public health issues over a two-year period. Over the last 30 years, we have grown the issues we work on and the latest scorecard aims to encompass environmental justice.
The 2021-2022 scorecard highlights where significant progress was made, including:A ground-breaking transportation package, the Climate Commitment Act, a Clean Fuels Standard, the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act, voting preclearance and critical revisions to how our state manages growth. These policies were met with almost universal support from legislators in the majority party in each chamber, with universal opposition from the minority party. Only 2 Republican House members and 1 Republican Senator received a score better than 0 — the worst recorded performance in the history of our scoring.
Constituents and Voters throughout the State of Washington are demanding clean air, clean water, healthy communities, and clean energy alternatives. Yet the scorecard makes it clear that the current minority party is unwilling to protect our state’s environment, health, and democracy.
You and I know that elections have real consequences. We hope the Scorecard will help inform both the public and legislative leadership as to the importance of these issues to the State of Washington and that you will use this Scorecard to help educate you on those in Olympia who have stepped up for the environment and justice and those who have not.
What are legislators scored on?
We scored legislators on 11 votes in the Senate and 12 votes in the House. Major legislation included Climate Commitment Act, Clean Fuels Now, Transportation Package, Salmon and Voting Rights.
Need to find out who your legislators are?
Visit: Find your legislator
How are legislators scored?
Each legislator receives a percentage based on a total of 100. On each bill, a legislator took either a pro-environment or an anti-environment vote. Each legislator receives one point for every pro-environment bill that they voted on, then that is divided by the total number of bills that were scored to get their percentage.
*To read prior scorecards in our archive all the way back to 1991-1992 legislative sessions, click here.