In abstract
Assemblymember Mike Fong is the one California lawmaker who has by no means voted “no” on a chunk of laws.
The Democrats who management California’s Legislature vote “no” on common lower than 1% of the time. However one Assemblymember stands out even amongst this group of “yes” women and men.
Mike Fonga Democrat from Monterey Park, is the one certainly one of California’s 120 state lawmakers who has by no means solid a “no” vote on a chunk of laws, in line with the Digital Democracy database.
Fong has dutifully stated “aye” throughout committee votes and pushed the inexperienced button at his desk on the Meeting ground 9,389 occasions since he was sworn in on Feb. 22, 2022.
Fong chairs the Meeting Increased Training Committee, and he sits on the Meeting’s appropriations and funds committees, giving the Los Angeles County lawmaker vital affect over how billions of Californians’ tax {dollars} are spent annually.
Fong’s workplace didn’t reply to an interview request from CalMatters this week. His workplace additionally refused to make him accessible earlier this 12 months to debate his voting document for a CalMatters and CBS Information investigation into the Legislature’s voting traits.
The investigation in April revealed that California’s Democratic lawmakers vote “no” so hardly ever that critics say many of the 2,000-plus payments launched annually seem like determined prematurely behind closed doorways.
With the adjournment of the Legislature’s two-year session in August, the newest Digital Democracy information reveals that the sample hasn’t modified. Democrats voted “no” lower than half of 1% of the time. Forty-seven of the 120 legislators voted “no” lower than 10 occasions. Through the two-year session, a Democratic lawmaker on common had round 4,800 alternatives to vote on payments.
The truth that Fong has but to say “no” to any of the hundreds of payments he’s thought-about up to now 33 months was one of many important causes Lengthy “David” Liu determined to run towards Fong on this 12 months’s election. Liu, a Republican lawyer who heads a Metropolis of Business regulation agency, is a longshot within the safely Democratic district that features giant Asian American communities southeast of Pasadena.
“It’s such a sacred sort of job to cast a vote as an Assemblymember on the laws that would affect every single person living in the state of California,” Liu instructed CalMatters. “And he simply casts his fundamental vote with out figuring out what the invoice is, with out figuring out what the invoice is about. I imply, simply that’s scary.“
Fong stated ‘no’ however to not a invoice
One of many Legislature’s most distinguished critics was additionally flummoxed by Fong’s propensity to vote “aye” so typically.
Scott Kaufmana lobbyist for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Affiliation and a frequent critic of Democratic spending insurance policies, instructed CalMatters that initially he couldn’t consider Fong had by no means voted “no.” He checked his group’s inside vote tracker and confirmed Digital Democracy’s findings.
Kaufman stated that since Fong votes “aye” on so many payments, he typically votes for those the tax-fighter group helps. Nonetheless, Kaufman stated he hoped Fong wasn’t reflexively voting “aye” on every thing.
“If he’s hitting the ‘yes’ button just to hit the ‘yes’ button, I’m concerned,” he stated.
Fong did solid a “no” vote earlier this month, however it wasn’t for laws; it was on a procedural movement.
Be taught extra about legislators talked about on this story.
Fong pressed the “no” button together with 49 different Meeting Democrats in response to a Republican movement to adjourn Gov. Gavin Newsom’s particular session on gas-price spikes. Republicans opposed the session, saying any new gas laws would simply increase gasoline prices for customers.
Moments after Fong and his colleagues killed the Republican movement, Fong pressed the inexperienced button, sending a invoice on refinery laws to Newsom’s desk.
Lawmakers say not voting is not any huge deal
CalMatters and CBS Information in April revealed that as an alternative of voting “no,” many lawmakers don’t vote in any respect. Within the Legislature, a non-vote counts the identical as voting “no,” as a result of legislative guidelines require a set variety of “yes” votes for a invoice to maneuver ahead. Lawmakers frequently maintain off on voting on controversial payments as a method to keep away from irking colleagues or angering highly effective lobbying teams which may see an official “no” vote as an insult.
In the case of not voting, Fong’s solely finished that 75 occasions in 9,465 alternatives. In different phrases, for each 100 payments Fong had the chance to vote on, he voted “aye” 99 occasions. The typical non-vote price for Fong’s fellow Democrats is round 5%.
The Legislature’s on-line vote-tracking database doesn’t distinguish whether or not non-votes are on account of absencesabstentions as a result of a lawmaker has a battle of curiosity or if she or he simply declined to vote.
The Legislature’s Democratic leaders have repeatedly refused to reply CalMatters’ questions on issues that not voting is avoiding accountability for his or her selections. Some veteran legislators additionally instructed CalMatters lately they didn’t assume not voting was an enormous deal.
“I think it’s a non issue,” stated outgoing Democratic Assemblymember Kevin McCarty of Sacramento. “I think it’s an issue that, you know, you and reporters just kind of make up. I think the bill passes or it doesn’t pass. I don’t think there’s much drama to that.”
McCarty didn’t vote 120 occasions this 12 months in additional than 2,500 alternatives. He voted “no” 9 occasions.
Brian Maienscheina Democratic Assemblymember from San Diego who can also be termed out, agreed. Maienschein didn’t vote 55 occasions this 12 months in additional than 2,400 alternatives. He solid 4 “no” votes.
“A bill needs 41 yeses to pass, right?” he stated. “So, I mean, if you’re not voting ‘yes,’ you’re not pushing that bill across the finish line. … I didn’t see that as something that I found was like a big deal.”
Thomas Gerrity and Hans Poschman, members of the CalMatters Digital Democracy group, contributed to this story.
