California Lawmakers Dodge Tough Bills by Not Voting. Here Are the Worst Offenders

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There’s a green button for “aye” and a red button for “no” on Concord Assemblymember Anamarie Ávila Farías’ desk.

Ryan Sabalow

CalMatters

She feels obligated to push one of those buttons for every bill that comes her way in the California Legislature – even if hitting the red one might make her an outlier among her Democratic colleagues. After all, they almost never vote against bills, particularly those authored by their fellow Democrats.

She voted “no” this year 41 times. That’s the most of any of California’s 90 Democratic lawmakers, who each voted “no” on average less than nine times in about 2,200 opportunities. That’s less than 1% of the time.

“There’s no third button,” Ávila Farías said in an int