WASHINGTON - Tthe Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) has released its nnual scorecard of congressional votes in order to show how each member of Congress voted on issues important to entrepreneurs and the small business community - and Georgia's delegation placed 20th.
"SBE Council's Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005" can be read and downloaded from SBE Council's website at www.sbecouncil.org. The scorecard provides the voting record for each member of Congress, as well as tallies for entire congressional delegations from each state (see below).
SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan observed: "Small businesses, of course, are the backbone of the U.S. economy in terms of job creation, innovation, and pushing economic growth forward. While most politicians talk favorably about small businesses, SBE Council puts their actual voting records to the test. In 2005, 269 members of Congress earned SBE Council's appreciation and its 'Small Business Champion Award.'"
SBE Council chief economist Raymond J. Keating declared: "The best policy environment for entrepreneurship and small business is one where the tax burden is low and regulation is not burdensome. That agenda, which will help keep our small business and entrepreneurial sector strong and competitive, is reflected in the votes included in 'SBE Council's Congressional Voting Scorecard.'"
Members of the U.S. Senate were scored on 23 votes, as were members of the U.S. House of Representatives. SBE Council also tallied and averaged the votes of each state delegation to determine which delegations voted in the most small business friendly way - or not so, as the case may be.
Rankings of Vote Scores for State Congressional Delegations:
Rank State Score
1 Idaho 95.7
1 Oklahoma 95.7
3 Alaska 94.3
3 Wyoming 94.3
5 Utah 92.4
6 Kentucky 92.1
7 Alabama 91.0
8 Nebraska 90.6
9 Kansas 88.6
10 New Hampshire 87.0
11 Louisiana 81.2
12 Mississippi 80.0
13 Montana 79.7
14 Texas 79.6
15 Tennessee 79.4
16 Virginia 78.8
17 Arizona 77.5
18 Florida 76.7
18 South Carolina 76.7
20 Georgia 75.3
21 Iowa 74.1
22 Indiana 73.2
23 Missouri 72.3
24 Ohio 70.2
25 Pennsylvania 69.5
26 Colorado 68.1
27 Nevada 67.2
28 New Mexico 65.5
29 North Carolina 63.7
30 Michigan 60.3
31 Wisconsin 55.8
32 South Dakota 51.4
33 Illinois 50.0
34 Arkansas 47.9
34 Minnesota 47.9
36 California 47.4
37 Oregon 46.3
38 West Virginia 43.2
39 Delaware 42.9
40 Washington 42.8
41 New Jersey 41.6
42 Connecticut 41.2
43 New York 38.9
44 Maryland 35.2
45 North Dakota 33.8
46 Maine 30.9
47 Hawaii 24.1
48 Rhode Island 18.1
49 Vermont 15.7
50 Massachusetts 12.2
Thursday
July 17th, 2025
3:55AM
