Regardless of what side of SB284 you’re on, let’s look at some numbers.
- 341 voted and it passed, 197-144.
- 94 Rs and 102 Dems voted Yes.
- 95 Rs and 49 Dems voted No.
It would be interesting to analyze all the Yes votes and all the No votes, not so much by party lines, but how rural or urban their districts are, because the supply and demand of parking is mostly an urban issue, and sprawl makes everything one or more steps closer to being urban. I’ll save that project for another time if there’s any interest.
SB284 was removed from the Consent Calendar and there were only five other roll call votes in this House session. It stands to reason that all reps knew there would be discussion and a roll call for SB284. The questions are the following:
Who called in sick (or used another excuse for not reporting to work)?
Among the above absent reps (for whatever official reason on record), how many chose to play hooky because of this bill?
If you want to know the answer to the first question, you can look up your reps(or someone else’s). If you want to know the answer to the second question badly enough, you will need to ask the truants yourself.
The last question is, “Who took a walk?”
That’s defined by showing up to do The People’s Work, but abstaining from this particular vote. Cornerstoners are really into exposing reps who don’t participate in roll calls for reproductive issue bills, but why let them have a monopoly on this?
It’s like reconciling a cash register drawer at the end of a busy day, things are just not adding up, but I won’t get into the weeds of that, keeping in mind that the acting/speaker usually does not vote, and there could be some vacancies.
Of the absences, I counted 15 as “not excused.” The enemy of 91A, Aidan Ankarberg, became an independent almost immediately after being reelected and just plain stopped showing up, presumably as part of some political tantrum. If you vote in Rochester, you might want to keep that in mind, but let’s expose the eight derelict Rs, which include some surprises, because I thought they would never stoop that low. Here they are:
- Enemy of 91A Hunt
- Leavitt
- McDonnell
- Peternel
- Red Flagger Roy
- Thibault
- Enemy of 91A Verville
- Realtor Warden
I’ll add that I’m aware they are human beings, and none of us are perfect, private citizens, or public servants alike. Not even Trump is perfect, but if any of the unexcused reps are yours, consider telling them that you know and calling them out on it, assuming you think a reprimand is in order. Or you can ask what happened and then hear them tell you they were in the bathroom.
