Legislative Scorecard Based on the U.S. Constitution

The Legislative Scorecard is a nationwide educational program of The John Birch Society. Its purpose is to create an informed electorate on how state legislators are voting. The Scorecard is nonpartisan; it does not promote any candidate or political party. Bills are selected for their constitutional implications and cost to the taxpayers.

Please share this Scorecard in your district to inform people about your legislator's record on key votes.
U.S. Constitution, Amendment I --- 11 C.F.R. §114(4)(c)(4) --- 616 F.2d 45 (2d Cir. 1980)

Legislative Scorecard

Based on the U.S. Constitution

TX Scorecard 2021

Please share this Scorecard in your district to inform people about your legislator's record on key votes.
U.S. Constitution, Amendment I --- 11 C.F.R. §114(4)(c)(4) --- 616 F.2d 45 (2d Cir. 1980)

The following scorecard lists several key votes in the Texas Legislature in 2021 and ranks state representatives and senators based on their fidelity to (U.S.) constitutional and limited-government principles.

This is our first state-level Scorecard; the selected votes may not be reflective of legislators’ overall records. Their cumulative scores will change as we add more votes. Please check regularly for updates.

Senate

House of Representatives

Senate

1. Budget

Good Vote: No

SB1 Budget (passed 31 to 0 on 5/26/2021). Appropriates, as passed by the Texas Legislature, approximately $248.6 billion for the FY 2022-23, of which roughly $248.1 billion became law following the Governor’s line-item veto proclamation.

2. No-Knock Warrant Limits

Good Vote: Yes

HB492 No-Knock Warrant Limits (passed 30 to 1 on 5/25/2021). Limits the issuance of ‘no-knock’ arrest and search warrants to only situations in which it is “necessary to avoid the risk of death or serious bodily injury to peace officers and others.”

3. Texas Pandemic Response Act

Good Vote: No

HB3 Texas Pandemic Response Act (passed 30 to 1 on 5/25/2021). Allows the governor to issue “pandemic disaster” declarations and establishes the 10-member Pandemic Disaster Legislative Oversight Committee to oversee them when the legislature is not convened.

4. Permitless Firearm Carry

Good Vote: Yes

HB1927 Permitless Firearm Carry (passed 18 to 13 on 5/5/2021). Allows permitless carry of a handgun for persons 21 years of age or older.

5. Election Integrity

Good Vote: Yes

SB7 Election Integrity (passed 18 to 13 on 4/1/2021). Seeks to prevent election fraud by both creating criminal offenses and increasing criminal penalties.

6. Abortion Restrictions

Good Vote: Yes

SB8 Abortion Restrictions (passed 19 to 12 on 3/30/2021). Prohibits an abortion after a fetal heartbeat has been detected, except for when a woman has a “medical emergency,” which places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.

Legislator Scores

[ + ] Pro-liberty Vote[ - ] Anti-liberty Vote[ . ] Did not Vote

Name	Party	District	Score	1	2	3	4	5	6
Carol Alvarado	D	SD-006	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-
Paul Bettencourt	R	SD-007	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Brian Birdwell	R	SD-022	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Cesar Blanco	D	SD-029	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-
Dawn Buckingham	R	SD-024	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Donna Campbell	R	SD-025	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Brandon Creighton	R	SD-004	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Sarah Eckhardt	D	SD-014	33%	-	+	+	-	-	-
Roland Gutierrez	D	SD-019	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-
Bob Hall	R	SD-002	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Kelly Hancock	R	SD-009	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa	D	SD-020	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-
Joan Huffman	R	SD-017	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Bryan Hughes	R	SD-001	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Nathan Johnson	D	SD-016	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-
Phil King	R	HD-061	NA	.	.	.	.	.	.
Lois Kolkhorst	R	SD-018	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Jose Menendez	D	SD-026	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-
Mayes Middleton	R	HD-023	NA	.	.	.	.	.	.
Borris Miles	D	SD-013	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-
Jane Nelson	R	SD-012	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Robert Nichols	R	SD-003	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Tan Parker	R	HD-063	NA	.	.	.	.	.	.
Angela Paxton	R	SD-008	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Charles Perry	R	SD-028	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Beverly Powell	D	SD-010	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-
Charles Schwertner	R	SD-005	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Kel Seliger	R	SD-031	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Drew Springer	R	HD-068	60%	-	-	.	+	+	+
Larry Taylor	R	SD-011	67%	-	+	-	+	+	+
Royce West	D	SD-023	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-
John Whitmire	D	SD-015	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-
Judith Zaffirini	D	SD-021	17%	-	+	-	-	-	-

Average Constitutional Score by Party

Party	Score
Democrat	18.3%
Republican	66.6%

Freedom Index

A Legislative Scorecard Based on the Principles of the U.S. Constitution