Brian Gilmore, AIM’s Executive Vice President – Public Affairs noted, “It is was a challenge to calculate the Scorecard this Session, since there were fewer ‘clear’ roll call votes taken during the session.” (A clear roll call is a vote on a specific issue itself, and not a voice vote.) In addition, he said, “The Scorecard is unable to measure those instances when the Legislature fails to address serious economic climate issues such reforming the state’s unemployment insurance system or other business and economic climate concerns, and/or declines to consider anti-business measures.”
Gilmore said, “Our members are disappointed by the ratings this session, and suggest that serious work needs to be done to improve upon the unsatisfactory trend during the 2008-2009 Legislative Session. The recent negative results in the AIM Business Confidence Index illustrate the consequences how ill-conceived public policy measures impact the business climate in Massachusetts.”
Gilmore further noted, “The scorecard ratings may not be final for this session, because there is talk of reconvening the Legislature before the end of the year. We may have to prepare an update later, but we felt it was important to get these results out before the primary elections in September and the general election in November.”
The complete AIM 2007-2008 Legislative Scorecard, with roll call records for each member of the House and the Senate can be found on AIM’s website Associated Industries of Massachusetts.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Brian R. Gilmore, Executive Vice President – Public Affairs
Phone: (617) 262-1180
Website: www.aimnet.org