2011
Business Index

If you are interested in viewing the 2011 Business Index bills, please contact our office at (425) 313-0074.

What is the Business Index?

The Business Index is a nonpartisan rating system that scores all legislation that deals with business issues in Washington state. The ranking is accrued through a combination of both the bill sponsorship record and the floor voting record of each legislator. Every bill introduced in the House and Senate during the 2011 legislative session will receive either a Good (pro-business), Bad (anti-business), or Neutral (neither good nor bad for business) rating as it pertains to whether or not that piece of legislation is pro-business or not.

The determination of how to rank pieces of legislation is based upon collaborative input by a several different business organizations around the state.

What are the definitions of pro-business or anti-business legislation?

Pro-business legislation: A piece of legislation that has a positive impact on the business community in Washington state. The bill can have an impact on issues such as: budget and taxes, the education system, the workforce, the regulatory climate, state infrastructure, and the health care system.
Anti-business legislation: A piece of legislation that has a negative impact on the health and global competitiveness of Washington’s private sector. This type of legislation has negative implications for both the business community and its hundreds of thousands of employees.

Part 1: Bill Sponsorship Record

Here’s how it works:

Every bill introduced is put into a category: Good bill for Washington’s private sector, Bad bill for Washington’s private sector or Neutral or no impact on Washington’s private sector.

For every pro-business bill, the prime bill sponsor receives +3 points, and co-sponsors receive +1 point.
For every anti-business bill, the prime bill sponsor receives -3 points, and co-sponsors receive -1 point.
Every time each piece of legislation passes through the advancing stages of the legislative process, the primary sponsor and co-sponsors will get additional points added or taken away from their score depending upon whether that bill was altered. (For Example: Introduction + House Committee Vote + House Floor Vote + Senate Committee Vote + Senate Floor Vote + Governor’s Signature = Score)

Part 2: Floor Voting Record

Here’s how it works:

For final passage of bills in caucus, every legislator gets a score of +1 or -1, depending on whether or not their vote was in support of the business community’s position on the bill.

What do Legislators’ scores mean?

A positive score means the legislator has authored, sponsored and/or voted for more legislation that is good for Washington’s private sector than bad.
A negative score means the legislator has authored, sponsored and/or voted for more legislation that will hurt Washington’s private sector than help it grow.
If a legislator has a rating of zero, that means they voted in a neutral manner on business-related bills. A score of zero signals that the legislator is not making the health of Washington’s economy a top priority when casting votes.