Before You Vote, Know the Score.
Know your legislators' score! Learn how your legislators are voting on the conservation issues most important to you with the Conservation Scorecard.
HOW THE SCORECARD WORKS
Scorecard 2017-18: Tracking Your Legislators
Thanks to conservation voters like you, in the 2017-18 legislative session we began to address the drinking water crisis in Wisconsin, like updating manure management rules and giving communities more tools to eliminate lead pipes.
| 12 | Number of senate Conservation Champions (100% pro-conservation voting record) |
| 31 | Number of assembly Conservation Champions (100% pro-conservation voting record) |
| 2,200 | messages sent to legislators supporting Leading on Lead Bill |
| 4,451 | emails, phone calls, and petition signatures supporting new manure rules |
| 7,200 | messages, emails, and phone calls opposing environmental rollbacks |
Conservation Scorecard 2015-16
Highlights include saving and funding the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, stopping efforts to privatize drinking water systems, making vast improvements to the horrid Polluter and Developer Grab Bags, and protecting the Great Lakes from plastic microbeads.
| 44% | Average senate score |
| 8 | Number of senate Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 35 | Number of assembly Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 13 | Number of senators with 75% and higher |
| 36 | Number of representatives with 75% and higher |
Conservation Scorecard 2013-14
The session had its share of both good and bad moments. The most stinging defeat was the passage of the Open-Pit Mining Bill early in the session. The session ended on a bright note with the defeat of the Eat My Dust Bill.
| 65% | Average senate score |
| 74% | Average assembly score |
| 10 | Number of senate Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 35 | Number of assembly Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 15 | Number of senators with 75% and higher |
| 41 | Number of representatives with 75% and higher |
Conservation Scorecard 2011-12
The highlight of this session was the state senate’s success in standing up to an out-of-state mining company that was seeking to rewrite our public health, conservation, and public input laws for their own benefit.
| 43% | Average senate score |
| 50% | Average assembly score |
| 2 | Number of senate Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 29 | Number of assembly Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 11 | Number of senators with 75% and higher |
| 39 | Number of representatives with 75% and higher |
Conservation Scorecard 2009-10
Despite a tough economic climate that overshadowed many legislative actions, there are numerous examples of conservation successes from the 2009-2010 legislative session.
| 71% | Average senate score |
| 75% | Average assembly score |
| 3 | Number of senate Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 38 | Number of assembly Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 19 | Number of senators with 75% and higher: |
| 59 | Number of representatives with 75% and higher |
Conservation Scorecard 2007-08
This legislative session represented the best and the worst of natural resource policy making in Wisconsin.
| 88% | Average senate score |
| 64% | Average assembly score |
| 18 | Number of senate Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 12 | Number of assembly Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 27 | Number of senators with 75% and higher |
| 42 | Number of representatives with 75% and higher |
Conservation Scorecard 2005-06
During the 2005-2006 legislative session a number of pro-conservation bills became law, with none standing out more than the Clean Energy Bill.
| 62% | Average senate score |
| 41% | Average assembly score |
| 2 | Number of senate Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 10 | Number of assembly Conservation Champions (100% score) |
| 14 | Number of senators with 75% and higher |
| 37 | Number of representatives with 75% and higher |
How the Scorecard Works
Before you vote, know the score.
At the end of each legislative session, Wisconsin Conservation Voters brings you the Conservation Scorecard so that you can see how your legislator is voting on the issues you care about.
One of the most important things you’ll find in the each scorecard is the amazing story of you. Each session, conservationists from every corner of the state get involved. Together we have achieved great things like protecting kids from lead in drinking water, passing new manure pollution rules, saving and funding the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, stopping efforts to privatize drinking water systems, and protecting the Great Lakes.
The most recent scorecard, Tracking Your Legislators, is a little different. Scoring your legislators has become more difficult in this era of constant attacks on our environmental protections.
Often a win for the environment means preventing anti-conservation bills from getting to the senate or assembly floor for a vote – which leaves no record of legislators who fought to stop the bill.
There is often no public record of how legislators voted due to frequent voice votes. And, legislators who champion the environment often can’t even get a hearing or a vote on their bills.
We’ve eliminated the single number score you’re used to seeing in the Conservation Scorecard beginning with the 2017-18 session. Instead, all legislators’ votes on every conservation bill are listed on the Vote Tracker feature on our website.
The Conservation Scorecard is designed to provide voters with the information necessary to distinguish true stewards of Wisconsin’s environment from those who just talk about it. It is released at the conclusion of each two-year legislative session (usually in the summer of even numbered years). The Conservation Scorecard is free to members of Wisconsin Conservation Voters.
While it is legislators who ultimately cast the votes that determine Wisconsin’s conservation policies –the real power lies in the hands of voters like you. You determine who makes those decisions. Use this publication and the Vote Tracker to help inform your votes and your efforts as a conservation voter.
Become a member and receive our scorecard in your mailbox.
One of the benefits of becoming a member of Wisconsin Conservation Voters is having the newest scorecard delivered right to your door.
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