Rep. Westerman (left) receiving his award from AAI’s Greenberg.
Today at the Capitol, 23 state legislators were awarded “Friends of Freedom” awards from the Advance Arkansas Institute. These legislators represent the top tier of scorers on AAI’s newly released 2013 Freedom Scorecard, an index of over 100 bills that were debated in this year’s legislative session.
(If you’d like a copy of the full report, send us a tax-deductible donation and we’ll ship one out to you.)
So, who are the Friends of Freedom? In the House, the following representatives made the top tier (their numbers represent raw scores, not percentages):
Bruce Westerman – 80
Nate Bell – 79
David Meeks – 78
Randy Alexander – 77
Bob Ballinger – 77
Richard Womack – 77
Gary Deffenbaugh – 76
Charlene Fite – 75
Justin Harris – 75
Andrea Lea – 75
Bill Gossage – 73
Andy Mayberry – 73
Jim Dotson – 72
Debra Hobbs – 72
On the Senate side:
Bart Hester – 77
Jim Hendren – 76
Cecile Bledsoe – 75
Alan Clark – 73
Jane English – 72
Missy Irvin – 72
Gary Stubblefield – 72
Some people have asked how these scores were determined. The answer is simple: for each vote that was measured, legislators were eligible to receive a point.
As the top scorers in their respective chambers, Senator Hester and Rep. Westerman received special designations as “Best Friends of Freedom.” Rep. Nate Bell and Senator Bryan King were also recognized as “Legislators of the Year” for their work on election and government reform.
In his remarks, AAI President Dan Greenberg praised all legislators for their hard work for their constituents, but said this group of legislators deserves special recognition:
All legislators deserve our appreciation for their public service, but the AAI Friends of Freedom have worked tirelessly to promote liberty and limit the reach of government in Arkansas. For that, they deserve our sincerest thanks and appreciation. It is a privilege to work with each one of them to make Arkansas a freer, more prosperous state that respects individual liberty and the free-market system.
We have sent out copies of the new report to all of our members. If you’d like your own copy, make a donation to AAI and we’ll get one sent out to you as well. This post was updated on 4/15/14 to correct minor transcription errors in the first draft of the 2013 AAI Scorecard.
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