Information Alert: Report Cards Now Available!

Victoria Cobb, President
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The Family Foundation Action today released the tenth edition of its non-partisan General Assembly Report Card. The educational document, released at a capitol press conference, informs citizens on key votes taken by the General Assembly during the 2008 and 2009 sessions. (You can read the text of my speech on our blog at www.familyfoundationblog.com/?p=2525.

You can see the new Report Card at www.tffaction.org.

Several points can be made from the scores. For example in the House of Delegates alone two-thirds of the members voted in favor of The Family Foundation’s agenda more than half the time, indicating a broad based, bipartisan support for The Family Foundation’s commonsense proposals. Interestingly, the House Democrat minority leader, Ward Armstrong (D-10, Martinsville) scored a very high 81 percent, again illustrating that The Family Foundation's agenda has broad, bipartisan appeal.

The Report Card is the most concise illustration of which legislators share our values and which do not available in Virginia.

It is our hope that the Report Card, along with Voter Guides that will be distributed in the fall by TFF Action, will motivate citizens to vote, and help them make informed choices when they go to the voting booth. All 100 members of the House of Delegates are up for reelection, as well as the offices of Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General.

As with each Report Card distributed over the years, hundreds of votes taken by the legislature during the past two years were reviewed. The first page of the Report Card explains the criteria used in determining which votes to include. Non-partisan and broad-based, the Report Card seeks not to benefit one party or one candidate over another, but to arm voting Virginians with the information they need to make an informed choice when they go to the ballot box.

This year’s Report Card has seven more “100 percenters” in the House than the last edition, bringing the total to 42. There are four in the state Senate, twice the number from 2007. In addition, there are no “Zeros” on this Report Card in either the House or the Senate.

The Family Foundation Action distributed 50,000 copies of the last edition, not including those that were downloaded from the Action website. The organization hopes to distribute twice that number with this edition to ensure that more Virginians know exactly where their elected officials stand on important values issues.

To order additional copies of the Report Card to distribute in your church, community group and to like-minded friends and neighbors contact John Smith at The Family Foundation Action at 804-343-0010 or at john.smith@tffaction.org. A suggested donation of $.25 per copy is encouraged to help defray costs of printing and distribution. Please also consider sponsoring the distribution of 100, 500 or even 1000 Report Cards with a donation of $25, $125 or $250. Checks should be written to "TFF Action" and sent to P.O. Box 100 Richmond, VA 23218 or you may phone in a credit card. Thank you for your support.

The mission of The Family Foundation Action is to protect families and promote responsible citizenship by giving Virginians the tools they need to hold their elected officials accountable. The Family Foundation Action is not a PAC and cannot endorse candidates. The Family Foundation Action plans to distribute 100,000 Report Cards throughout Virginia in the coming months, double the number from the 2007 distribution.