by Karl Kurtz
Earlier this week, the Sacramento Bee reported that two members of the California Assembly majority Democratic party voted "yes" on all 1,450 roll call votes during the just-completed 2011 legislative session. Fourteen other members, including the top leaders in both the Assembly and Senate, cast "no" votes five or fewer times.
It's no secret that Democrats rarely vote "no" on the floor. They control the Legislature and its committees, they control what comes up for a vote, and they usually let only the bills that they like come to a vote.
Plus, many votes pass judgment on measures that would draw little objection – resolutions honoring fallen officers, bills renaming bridges and the like.
Most Democrats do occasionally break with their party to vote "no" on the floor, but for some of them, you were more likely to see rain in Death Valley.
Wondering how common this might be in other states, I checked around with informants in selected states and found that there are a few chambers in which virtually every bill that comes to the floor passes, and majority party members generally vote yes. But most said that it was rare for members not to cast any no votes.
Although the article does not say it, these votes in the California Assembly are almost certainly on final passage only. The Ohio House has similar practices to California, but House clerk Laura Clemens notes, "A member might cast several 'no' votes on certain motions, i.e. motion to re-refer to committee, motion to lay on the table, etc., but vote with the majority 100% of the time.... We have quite a few of these."
And then there's the Illinois House. With strong leadership control, most bills that make it to the floor pass in that chamber. But not all of them. In fact, there is a special Century Club reserved for members whose bills obtain at least 100 (out of 118) "no" votes. When the vote tally board nears 100 nays, the chamber turns raucous with members urging their colleagues to change their vote from green to red in order to induct another member into the Century Club. A celebration, which includes passing a trophy from the previous inductee into the club, ensues, as shown in this video captured by Illinois Statehouse News earlier this year.
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