BIPEC LEGISLATIVE SCORECARDS

 

OVERVIEW

For every session of the South Carolina General Assembly since 1985, BIPEC has used roll call votes on business issues to calculate a Vote Score for each member of the South Carolina Senate and House of Representatives. BIPEC’s Vote Scores determine each legislator’s business stance.

PROCESS

1) Bills are rated Business Positive or Business Negative by the BIPECPAC Executive Board after a recommendation from the BIPEC Legislative Advisory Committee. 2) Roll call votes concerning BIPECPAC Rated bills are recorded from the official legislative Journal. 3) Each bill vote is weighted according to its relative importance. 4) A raw vote score is calculated based on each legislator’s bill votes and the nature of each legislator’s absences. 5) Points are awarded for sponsoring/cosponsoring Business Positive legislation and points are deducted for sponsoring/cosponsoring Business Negative legislation.

           
DISTRICT SCORES
BIPEC’s District Scores represent the strength of business in each legislative district. Higher scores are assigned to districts that are more likely to elect pro-business legislators. Based on numerous demographic variables, District Scores will change each time the district lines are modified due to reapportionment and new census data input.