Alameda County Legislators Protect Consumer Rights, Mostly.

The Consumer Federation of California has issued its 2012 Legislative Scorecards, listing how our representatives in Sacramento have voted on legislative bills related to consumer protections.    Most of them have done fairly well, but San Leandro State Senator Ellen Corbett deserves recognition for being named as one of only seven “Consumer Champions,” for her lifetime 100% pro-consumer voting record.

Berkeley State Senator Loni Hancock and Berkeley Assemblymember Nancy Skinner also deserve special mention.  They both got a 100% pro-consumer voting score for 2012.  Hancock sports a lifetime 99% score and Skinner a 96% one.

Our other local Assembly members did not do as well. San Leandro’s former representative, Mary Hayashi, got a 67% score for 2012, though her 89% lifetime score isn’t too bad. Former Oakland Assemblymember Sandre Swanson scored 88% in 2012, but 96% over all.

Meanwhile, current Fremont Assembly member Bob Wieckowski got 80% in 2012, bringing down his lifetime (which in his case, it’s just 2 years) score to 92%. He’s faulted for voting in favor of SB 1161, a bill which took away the power to regulate Voice over IP phone service from California Public Utilities Commission and for voting against SB 1208, a bill that required publicly traded corporations to include the names and compensation of the five most highly compensated retirees in statements filed with the Secretary of State.

Not surprisingly, Tri-Valley Assemblymember Joan Buchanan has the worst consumer protection record of Alameda County legislators. She barely scored 63% for 2012 and 73% overall for her 4 years in office. She is also faulted for voting in favor of SB 1161 and against SB 1208, but also for not casting a vote in favor of AB 2149, a bill that would prohibit “gag clauses” from appearing in the settlement of a civil lawsuit stemming from elder or dependent adult abuse.

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Margarita Lacabe blogs about Alameda County Democratic politics at http://democraticpolitics.tumblr.com/ and about San Leandro issues at San Leandro Talk