High marks for Legislature from LCV

The Arizona chapter of the League of Conservation Voters released its annual scorecard Thursday, praising legislators in the latest session for being particularly environmentally conscious.

Calling the 48th legislative session "the silver lining session," the LCV said the bills  produced this year "offered hope for conservation efforts in Arizona."

There was a stark difference in overall scores between the state Senate and House. While Democrats fared better than Republicans in both, as is typically the case, GOP senators were not far behind their Democratic colleagues.

Eight Republican state senators earned scores above 70 percent, with Sen. Tom O'Halleran (R-Sedona) topping the list at 89. The lowest scoring Republican was Ron Gould (R-Lake Havasu City) at 21 percent, and for the Democrats it was Victor Soltero (D-South Tucson) at 55 percent. As a whole, Senate Dems averaged 78 percent, with the GOP coming in at 64.

The House was a far different matter. In that chamber, Democrats had an average score of 90. For Republicans, it was 46. The lowest score went to Rep. Russell Pearce (R-Mesa), who had an 11 percent rating.

See the full report here.