WHY IS COLOR AF
SCORING LEGISLATORS?
A legislative scorecard is used to hold elected officials accountable for the work they do during the Colorado General Assembly, in and outside the Capitol. As the only Reproductive Justice Action Fund in the state, this scorecard is particularly important for Coloradans because it highlights legislative action on the full spectrum of reproductive health services and the intersectional policies that allow our communities to lead safe, healthy, and self-determined lives. This includes issues like worker and labor protections, racial justice, immigrant rights, and housing access, to name a few.
COLOR AF’s scorecard not only informs COLORistes and the broader community about what a reproductive justice-based policy platform can look like - but works to ensure that our leaders in office are upholding RJ values for the betterment of our communities.
WHO IS SCORED,
AND HOW ARE
THEY SCORED?
COLOR AF scores all legislators from all parties on a selection of bills chosen by the COLOR team. The policies chosen represent the four tenets of Reproductive Justice and work to uphold each specific human right during that year’s legislative session:
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The right to have children
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The right to not have children
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The right to raise our children in safe, healthy, and sustainable communities
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The right to personal bodily autonomy and self-determination
SCORING
Colorado State
House & Senate
COLOR AF selection of RJ bills
Holistic scoring - it’s more than the votes!
This one’s simple!
How a legislator votes on the selection of bills will be scored at 50% of the total score
+
VOTES
50 pts
PROCESS UNDER THE DOME
For 25%, legislators will be scored on:
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Amendments in Committee - Did they bring or vote for a bad amendment? Or conversely, did they help block a bad amendment?
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Advocacy on the issue - Did they help bring colleagues to a supportive stance?
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Transparent communication - Did they do what they said they would or were we surprised by any legislative actions?
+
25 pts
COLLABORATOR
For the last 25%, elected officials will be scored on their engagement with our issues.
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Did they uplift our bills in a newsletter or town hall?
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Did they show up to an event to advocate for our issues?
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Are they integrating COLOR-ized RJ talking points?
+
25 pts
SPECIAL RECOGNITION
The gold star! This area of scoring is purely subjective and allows us to give special recognition to any legislator who went above and beyond to protect Reproductive Justice. For example, in the past, we’ve had a legislator ensure we didn’t lose implementation funding.
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Subjective Scoring
WHY ARE THESE
SCORES IMPORTANT?
COLOR AF’s RJ scorecard is about more than what happens during the legislative session. While that is incredibly important work, we are only successful “under the dome” (that’s politico speak for being at the Capitol) when we put in the work outside of the Capitol.
COLOR Action Fund endorses Reproductive Justice candidates who are running for office, works to help elect Champions for our communities, and is a trusted messenger to Colorado Latine communities. In order to be a Reproductive Justice Champion, a lawmaker or candidate must not only support RJ policy but actively advance these issues and live these values.
In addition to showing us the score of each legislative member, we can also track the growing list of RJ Champions in the CO General Assembly. This is a true testament to the work that COLOR Action Fund is doing on the ground to engage voters and educate candidates. It is only through this work that we are able to pass policies that continue to grow the RJ movement.
