Sen. Rebekah Warren Named “Most Liberal” Mich. State Senator—Captures Designation for Fourth Year Running

THE 2014 ELECTION is a little less than four weeks away, and Inside Michigan Politics has released what the political newsletter is calling the “definitive rankings of the Most Liberal and Most Conservative members of the Michigan Senate.” Inside Michigan Politics calculated the rankings of the Most Liberal and Most Conservative members of the state Senate for 2014. Last week, IMP released its state House rankings.

Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) is the Most Liberal senator for 2014 with a 96.67 percent liberal voting record. Warren has made history; she’s the only senator to be Most Liberal for all four years of her term (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014).

Sen. Jim Ananich (D-Flint) was the runner-up with a 96.30 percent liberal voting record. Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) and Sen. Vince Gregory (D-Southfield) tied for third with 93.33 percent.

The Ann Arbor Independent has looked at Ann Arbor’s legislators’ success in getting their legislation out of committee and signed by Gov. Snyder. It’s a record long on ambition and short on success, though Warren has had more success than others.

On June 24 of this year, Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation to prevent discrimination against breast-feeding mothers, a law proposed by Sen. Warren.

Sen. Warren introduced 27 Bills, 8 Resolutions and 18 Amendments in 2013. Senator Warren’s other bills included one to authorize second parent adoption, one to elect U.S. presidents by national popular vote, and a bill to make the cherry the official state fruit.

It should come as no surprise that, in large part, Warren’s liberal views have made it difficult for her to find support for her legislation. In 2013, she proposed the following:

• Introduced 2013 Senate Bill 593: Human trafficking crime package

• October 3, 2013, to require child placement agencies to give special consideration to information that a child may be the victim of human trafficking crimes, and on that basis find that the usual reunification, adoption, or other foster care services may not be suitable.

• Introduced 2013 Senate Bill 457: Authorize “second parent adoption”

• July 31, 2013, to provide for “second parent adoption” in Michigan law. This is a legal procedure that allows a same-sex parent to adopt his or her partner’s biological or adoptive child without terminating the first parent’s legal status as a parent.

• Introduced 2013 Senate Bill 223: Give tuition subsidies to all high school grads

• February 27, 2013, to give all Michigan high school graduates up to five years of grants covering tuition in a state college or university. Funding would come from repealing $1.8 billion worth of current state tax deductions, exemptions and credits.

The Most Conservative Mich. state senator title is held by two men: Sens. Jack Brandenburg (R-Harrison Twp.) and John Moolenaar (R-Midland), who had 6.67 percent liberal voting records.

The second-place finisher is Sen. Joe Hune (R-Hamburg) with a 10.00 percent liberal voting record. Sens. Pat Colbeck (R-Canton) and Phil Pavlov (R-St. Clair) tied for third with 13.33 percent.

The Inside Michigan Politics rankings are based on 30 litmus test roll-call votes in the state Senate this year.

For the IMP rankings, 100 percent is the gold standard for a representative who voted the liberal position on roll calls for an array of social, economic, taxation, environmental, civil rights, and public health/safety issues. If a roll call was missed, it was simply thrown out.

IMP has ranked all 38 members of the Senate in 2014. That list is available to subscribers in its Sept. 30, 2014, edition.

The list of the top three Most Liberal and Most Conservative senators from 2009 to 2013, is available at insidemichiganpolitics.com.