Tennessee legislature ranked most conservative for second year in row

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The Tennessee State Legislature was the most conservative legislature in the country in 2016, according to ratings released this week by the American Conservative Union.

It marks the second consecutive year in which the state legislature has received the ACU’s “We the People” award for this distinction.

House Majority Leader Glen Casada presides over a Republican super majority in the Tennessee House.

He said he was happy to hear the news about the award, but was not surprised that Tennessee’s legislature had won it.

“If you look at growth of income, if you look at job creation, and the performance of our schools, it’s because of our conservative principles that we’ve implemented,” Casada said.

Indeed, Casada’s satisfaction with the “most conservative” designation had more to do with how he felt the state’s conservatism had helped Tennessee families, than with any award.

“I’m proud to be the most conservative state in the union, and more so proud of the results that conservatism produces,” he said.

The ACU determines its rankings by studying bills that each state’s legislature passes in a given year.

“We select bills that focus on former President Ronald Reagan’s philosophy of the ‘three-legged stool’: 1) economic: taxes, budgets, regulation, spending, healthcare, and property; 2) social and cultural: 2nd Amendment, religious freedom, life, welfare, and education; and 3) government integrity: voting, individual liberty, privacy, and transparency,” according to a release provided by the ACU.

Tennessee’s state legislature won this year’s award again with a score of 74.95 percent. The national average in the ACU’s ratings was 49.78 percent. The Tennessee State Senate was ranked the most conservative in the nation, with a score of 79.87 percent, while the Tennessee House came in at number two nationally, with a score of 70.02 percent.

“For two years running Tennessee has led the way as the most conservative state,” said ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp. “Their dedication to upholding American ideals is something that all state legislators should strive to achieve. The fight to reduce the size and scope of government is never easy. The citizens of Tennessee should be especially proud of their elected official’s efforts to enact conservative solutions.”

Some of the bills passed by state legislative bodies in 2016 that were viewed favorably by the ACU ignited controversy and even national push-back, including SB 1556 Therapist Counseling Regulations, which allowed for therapists and counselors to refuse treatment to lesbian, gay and transgender patients if doing so would have conflicted with their “sincerely held principles.” Other bills the group based Tennessee’s rating on included SB 1735 School Choice, which expanded the use of education savings accounts to students attending private schools for the first time,  SB 151 Paycheck Protection for Teachers, which disallowed unions from automatically deducting union dues from teachers’ paychecks, and SJR 467 Forced Refugee Resettlement, which opposed federally mandated refugee resettlement in the state.

Amanda Bunning, the ACU’s director of government affairs explained that the organization has been conducting these ratings of state legislatures since 2011, although it has issued national congressional ratings since 1971. The popularity of those national rankings led to the decision to go state by state.

“We felt the need to also educate citizens in the state about how their state elected officials were doing,” Bunning said.

Bunning hopes that by educating citizens on a state level of what their legislatures are up to, the ACU can highlight the conservative values that it feels are essential to the nation.

“We believe that the role of the government is to protect life, liberty and property,” she said. “If the government is involved in that, we’re going to be supportive of it. If it’s not going to protect those things, then we’re hoping for smaller government.”

Ian Walters, the ACU’s communications director, shared a similar message. He said that even though political tactics and individual politicians can change from year to year, the ACU was hoping to use its rankings to underscore the importance of what it considers to be timeless conservative beliefs.

“Our philosophy is that conservatism is the political philosophy that sovereignty resides in the individual and that each individual is bestowed with certain inalienable rights,” Walters said. “What does change is the world that we live in. How do you apply timeless principles in an ever-changing world?”

The “We the People” award will be presented to members of the state legislature on Feb. 25 at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Oxon Hill, Maryland.