LibertyIndex.com run by Bob Guzzardi of Bryn Mawr is a fascinating site full of useful information where each bill passed by the Pennsylvania legislature since 2003 is analyzed with regard as to how it effects the liberty of the residents of the Commonwealth. The legislators are then graded on their support for liberty based on their votes.
The site defines The Liberty Index rating as an “assessment of whether a piece oflegislation advances or restrains individual liberty,particularly, economicfreedom to spend your money the way you think best.”
The highest grade for a Delaware County legislator is the B given to State Rep. Nick Miccarelli (R-162). He is followed by Rep. Steve Barrar (R-160) who gets a C+ and Tom Killion (R-168) who gets a C-.
Then it gets pretty sad.
House Republicans Bill Adolph (165) gets a D+; Mario Civera (164) gets a D; and Nick Micozzie gets an F-.
House Democrats Bryan Lentz (161). Greg Vitali (166) , Thaddeus Kirkland (159), and Roger Waters (191) get F- leaving Robert C. Donatucci (185) to shine with a F.
It’s even worse on the Senate side. Republicans Dominic Pileggi (9) and Ted Erickson (26), and Democrat Anthony H. Williams (8) get F-. Democrat Daylin Leach (17) for some strange reason gets a mere F. That’s definitely a mistake.
In fairness to the Senate Republicans, the index heavily weighs votes concerning appropriations and if the state had a governor other than Ed “Spend For My Friends” Rendell, I suspect their grades would be higher. Pileggi should get some credit for fighting Eddie as hard as he did to keep spending from being even worse.
And kudos to Guzzardi for some heavy lifting and excellent work.