State’s Congressional delegates graded

Report: Their representation not as effective as those from other regions

Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Congressional delegates from Colorado are not as effective in representing their home region as delegates from other regions, according to a report released yesterday by Colorado College.

The sixth annual State of the Rockies Report Card states that Colorado ranked second lowest in the nation for per capita congressional earmarks with only 19 congressional earmarked dollars per capita, well below the national average of 40 earmarked dollars per capita.

The West as a whole, however, is actually receiving more dollars per capita in earmarks ($48.86) than the national average ($39.85,) according to the report.

The report also states that for the 110th United States Congress — which lasted from January 2007 through January 2009 — U.S. lawmakers from Colorado voted against their party leadership the least of any state in the eight-state Rocky Mountain region.

Delegates from the Mountain region overall, however, were the most willing to break with their party leadership, earning the region a higher bi-partisanship score than any other region.

The House cooperation score for Mountain delegates, though, was low, which indicates that the lawmakers were willing to vote against their party, but not with their fellow Westerners.

“By the measures employed in this study, the Western regional delegation to Congress is not as effective in representing its home region as other regional delegations,” states the Colorado College report.

The report also ranked individual lawmakers from Colorado based on their willingness to work with lawmakers on the other side of the aisle and fellow Westerners, as well as the number of votes they missed and power they hold in Congress.

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, missed the most votes in the 110th Congress, missing 149 votes, or 22 percent. Udall is now a U.S. Senator from Colorado.

Retired Congressman Tom Tancredo, R-Littleton, followed Udall, having missed 107 votes, or 16 percent.

Retired Republican U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard earned the third worst vote attendance score, having missed 12 votes, or 6 percent.

Leading the pack for best vote attendance in the 110th Congress is former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., who did not miss one vote. Salazar is now the Secretary of the Interior under President Obama’s administration.

Following Salazar is Congressman Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, who missed only six votes, or 1 percent; followed by Congressman John Salazar, D-Pueblo, who missed only nine votes, or 1 percent.

In the House, Tancredo earned the best bipartisanship score; in the Senate, Allard earned the best bipartisanship score. Both are Republicans.

Former U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Fort Collins, earned herself the highest regional unity score for Colorado delegates in the House, meaning she was more likely than any other delegate from Colorado to vote with fellow Western lawmakers.

Both Allard and Ken Salazar earned low regional unity scores in the Senate.

The report also states that Congresswoman Diana DeGette, D-Denver, held the most power in the House of the entire Colorado delegation; and Ken Salazar held the most power in the Senate compared to Allard.

The report’s author, Chris Jackson, points out that the report is important if Coloradans are to encourage their lawmakers to support issues that are important to both the state and the entire region.

“Even as Westerners are split on Rockies issues such as energy development, conservation, water management, pollution, and immigration, we still depend on our members of Congress to elevate the dialogue on these issues to the national level,” he said.

“It is unrealistic to assume that Western issues will take center stage in the White House,” added Jackson. “We cannot simply wait until our population matches that of the East Coast or West Coast to have our voices heard in Washington.”

* Sponsored Links *