Floor votes

Inland Southern California lawmakers cast the following floor votes in
2011:

Assembly

Senate

Source: Statenet

SACRAMENTO – Instead of voting yes or no, members of Inland Southern
California’s legislative delegation abstained on hundreds of bills that came
before the full Assembly and Senate this year.

Lawmakers sometimes were absent or away from their desks when a vote was
taken. The vast majority of nonvotes, however, reflected lawmakers’ intent, such
as protesting a budget bill, trying to compel changes in legislation, or
mollifying a colleague.

Critics say the abstentions have the same effect as voting no, but without
the public accountability. Voters elected lawmakers to vote, they say, not to
“take a walk” on controversial bills.

Among Inland legislators, state Sen. Bill Emmerson, R-Hemet, abstained on the
most bills in 2011 – 178 – based on voting data maintained by State Net, a
legislation tracking service. That is twice as many nonvotes as colleague Bob
Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, who did not vote on 80 bills.

Among the region's Democratic lawmakers, Assemblywoman Wilmer Amina Carter of
Rialto did not vote 65 times and state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod did not vote
120 times.

Emmerson abstained on legislation that dealt with federal stimulus funding
for energy-efficiency projects (passed the Legislature and signed into law),
scrapping the academic performance index for schools (passed the Legislature and
vetoed), and a budget-related bill (passed the Senate and stopped).

The senator said he missed some votes to attend events in his district. On
most of the other bills, Emmerson said, he abstained because he opposed the
measures but had been assured that his concerns would be addressed by the time
the bills received final consideration later.

“I think sometimes when you do abstain, you have a better ability to work
with groups and make changes,” said Emmerson, who is viewed as one of the more
moderate members of the GOP caucus.

Republican lawmakers abstained on several Democrat-crafted budget measures
this year. Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, said the Democratic
majority made the bills public only a short time before putting them up for a
vote.

“The number of bills that are rammed down our throats in the wee hours, and
the number of bills that are ‘works in progress’ and will be significantly
revised after we vote on them are all causing me to abstain more often as the
process gets worse in the Legislature,” Jeffries said in an email.

Passing most bills requires 21 votes in the Senate and 41 votes in the
Assembly, not just a majority of those present. Abstentions by members of the
Democratic majority often play a role in a bill’s failure.

Of the 120 abstentions by state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, four
involved bills that failed on the Senate floor. Those included a measure that
would have imposed greater privacy rules on social-networking websites.

Negrete McLeod said her colleagues know ahead of time when she won't support
their bill.

“An abstention is essentially a no vote. But for me, personally, it's a
courtesy to my colleagues,” she said.

She added, “I know people say you're obfuscating your duties. I say
baloney.”

Several years ago, a group of USC graduate students studied 5,162 bills
introduced during the 2001-02 session. Of those, 6 percent failed in committee
or on the floor. In almost every case, abstentions made the difference.

Frustrated with the abstention-caused defeats of bills it supported, the
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, now known as Consumer Watchdog,
drafted a ballot initiative that would have docked lawmakers’ pay if they didn’t
vote.

Jamie Court, the president of Consumer Watchdog, said the proposal polled
well but never advanced because of a lack of money.

“I don’t think it’s getting any better, that’s for sure,” Court said of
abstentions. “Walking is the principal way legislation dies.”

Failing to vote can become a campaign issue. In the 2008 presidential race,
critics jumped on Democrat Barack Obama’s voting “present” 129 times as an
Illinois state senator.

In 2006, the Democratic primary for a seat on the Board of Equalization
featured criticism of then-Assemblyman Jerome Horton’s high abstention rate. He
lost to then-Assemblywoman Judy Chu that year but was later appointed to the
board after Chu went to Congress.