Our Grading Process

Grading is a two step process. First we rate the bills on a scale of -5 to 5. We grade based on two criteria:

1. Freedom - whether a bill gives freedom back to the people, reduces government regulation, or shrinks government size. Such bills receive a positive rating from 1 to 5. Vice versa, a bill that expands government, adds regulations, or otherwise reduces citizen freedoms receives a negative rating from -1 to -5. Bills which do not appear to impact freedom receive a 0 rating.
2. Financial - whether a bill reduces taxes, reduces government spending, or shrinks government departments or programs. These bills receive a psotive rating from 1 to 5. Vice versa, a bill that increases taxes, increases government spending, or increases government size receives a negative rating from -1 to -5. Bills which do not appear to have a financial impact receive a 0 rating.

Then we grade the legislators based on the votes they cast. Here is the formula we use. If a legislator votes for a bill that has a positive freedom or financial rating, that bill's rating is added to the legislator's score. If a legislator votes against a bill that has a positive freedom or financial rating, that bill's rating is subtracted from the legislator's score. And vice versa, for bills with negative freedom or financial scores, if a legislator votes for that bill, the negative rating is subtracted from their score, or if they vote against the bill, the bill's absolute rating is added to their score.
The result is that voting for a positive bill increases a legislator's score, voting against a negative bill also increases their score. Voting for a negative bill or against a positive bill decreases their score.
This score is then graded against the best score that legislator could have achieved if they voted for positive bills and against negative bills.