 | 2001 TCR - Research Guidelines | |
Research Guidelines - Record Vote Selection Process
1. Comprehensive: Every record vote in both the Senate and House Journals was reviewed and the votes that showed signs of a liberal or conservative philosophy were selected.
2. Objective Panel: To ensure objectivity, these preliminary record votes were reviewed "blindly" without looking at any particular legislator's votes. This review was conducted by a non-partisan, six-person panel consisting of two PAC staffers and four former conservative state legislators, Democratic and Republican. A minimum of four of the six panelists had to agree for a vote to be included. The panelists were:
- Jim Horn, Denton, Republican legislator 1981-1999, past recipient of Heritage Alliance PAC's Texas Ten Award
- Dr. L. B. Kubiak, Rockdale, Democratic legislator 1983-1989, past recipient of Heritage Alliance PAC's Texas Ten Award
- M. A. Taylor, Waco, Republican legislator 1985-1991, past recipient of Heritage Alliance PAC's Texas Ten Award
- Judge Paul Pressler (retired), Houston, 25 years as Democrat in legislature, District Court, Court of Appeals. Served in the legislature before Heritage Alliance PAC was formed; led the conservative reform of the Southern Baptist Convention.
- Richard Ford, Dallas, Chairman, Heritage Alliance PAC
- Royal Masset, Austin, consultant to Heritage Alliance PAC
3. Votes: The panel then determined which votes should be included in the report (49 votes in the Senate and 63 votes in the House), and what they felt the conservative position on each vote should have been. See Conservative Principles.
4. Scoring: Each legislator was then given one point for each conservative vote. Votes were then calculated and the legislators were given a percentage or "rating" based on the number of times they voted with the conservative position on the record votes selected. No one issue is given more weight than any other issue; however, if an issue was voted on several times, it may carry a heavier weight.
5. Absences: If a legislator was absent, whether excused or unexcused, they received a zero. Exception was given for extended medically related excused absences, military duty, and for conference committee excused absences.
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