FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2021
Contact:
Brandon Dawson, brandon.dawson@sierraclub.org (830) 309-1092
Michael Blenner, michael.blenner@sierraclub.org (347) 439.2158
Sierra Club California Releases 2021 Legislative Report Card
SACRAMENTO - Today, Sierra Club California released its annual legislative report card, which tracks the performance of legislators and the governor on environmental issues and key climate bills.
The theme of 2021 for environmental legislation was incrementalism. The most impactful, transformative bills that Sierra Club California supported, such as Senate Bill 467 - which would have phased out oil and gas extraction - and AB 377 - which would have established a framework to improve water quality in the state - failed to pass, along with many others.
The number of legislators who earned 100% scores (achieved by voting with the Sierra Club California position on all of the scorecard bills) increased this year. In 2020, just eight assembly members and zero senators earned 100% scores, compared to 17 assembly members and 5 senators this year.
The report card also includes an overview of Governor Newsom’s third year in office, a year in which he faced down a recall election.
“Although the Governor’s record on the report card is better this year than his last two years,” said Brandon Dawson, Director of Sierra Club California, “his administration continues to struggle when meeting the urgency that the climate crisis demands.” Dawson added, “we appreciate the governor’s recent actions on protecting public health and hope that we’ll see bold actions that stand up to polluting interests in 2022.”
To prepare the report card, Sierra Club California staff selected eight bills to score in each house. The bills chosen represent a diverse array of important environmental justice and conservation issues, including greenhouse gas emissions, oil and gas extraction, and water pollution. All of the bills were among those that Sierra Club California advocates and volunteers were actively engaged in supporting or opposing throughout the year.
Legislator’s scores are determined by dividing the number of times the legislator voted with Sierra Club’s position by the total number of bills for which the legislator was present to cast a vote. Further information on scoring details, as well as individual legislator’s votes and scores are noted on the scorecard, which is available on Sierra Club California’s website.
The assembly members who earned perfect scores on the report card are:
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Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-16), Steve Bennett (D-37), Richard H. Bloom (D-50), Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-76), Mia Bonta (D-18), Issac G. Bryan (D-54), Wendy Carrillo (D-51), David Chiu (D-17), Laura Friedman (D-43), Jesse Gabriel (D-45), Lorena Gonzalez (D-80), Ash Kalra (D-27), Alex Lee (D-25), Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-47), Luz M. Rivas (D-39), Mark Stone (D-29), and Philip Y. Ting (D-19).
The senators who earned perfect scores are:
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Ben Allen (D-26), Sydney Kamlager (D-30), Monique Limón (D-19), Henry I. Stern (D-27), and Bob Wieckowski (D-10)
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory arm of Sierra Club’s 13 local chapters in California, representing nearly half a million members and supporters.