Colorado ranks 29th in faith-based legislative scorecard

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(The Center Square) – All but three of Colorado’s U.S. congressional members received a failing grade on a new report, which examined how their voting records align with “biblical based positions.”

Released by the Christian Employers Alliance and the Institute for Legislative Analysis, both national conservative nonprofits, the “Biblical Business Index” found that Colorado ranked 29th nationally.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert stood out on the index, ranking 21st nationally. The Republican representing Colorado’s District 3 received a rating of 94.87%. U.S. Rep. Greg Lopez performed nearly as well as Boebert, scoring a 93.46% and ranking 26th nationally.

Fred McGrath, president of the ILA, discussed the index’s findings with The Center Square.

“The CEA analyses cut through the meaningless campaign rhetoric of politicians and reveal where lawmakers actually stand on the issues utilizing their vote records,” he said. “The new level of transparency the Biblical Business Index provides is designed to help every American – regardless of their religious or political views.”

Throughout the index, including in Colorado, Republicans consistently outperformed Democrats. U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo was the highest-ranking Democrat from Colorado, receiving a rating of 31.84% and ranking 276th nationally.

Currently Colorado’s delegation has 11 members. Of those, four are Republicans (all in the U.S. House), and seven are Democrats, including the two U.S. senators.

U.S. Rep. Diane DeGette and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet tied for the lowest rating of the state’s delegation at 1.49% or 469th place.

McGrath said Colorado’s results on the index show there is some disconnect between the state’s voters and its representatives.

“Based on the data and rankings, it appears Colorado’s federal representatives voted slightly more conservative than their constituencies,” he said.

How does the index work?

To implement the index, the ILA partnered with policy experts and theologians to review every bill in the most recent session of Congress. It then scored every one of the 535 U.S. lawmakers on their alignment with biblical principles, looking specifically at wide-range of policy issues like abortion, gender identity, religious liberty, deregulation, and economic freedom.

Currently, Wyoming’s delegation is ranked first nationally with a 90.65% alignment, while Vermont’s delegation is ranked the worst with just 0.66% alignment.

The CEA plans to work with the ILA to expand the index to all state legislatures, encompassing all 7,400 lawmakers nationwide.

McGrath said CEA and ILA are hopeful the index will be helpful for voters.

“Oftentimes the moral and faith-aligned position on bills can be tricky for lawmakers and their staff to identify due to the extreme complexity of public policy,” he said. “That is why CEA launched the Biblical Business Index ... to bring together both policy experts and theologians to help decipher the complex policies and identify the biblically aligned position.”

State Index

Colorado is one of six states where the CEA and ILA have already released an index on the state’s legislature and legislation.

It ranked all of the state’s 100 state senators and representatives, using the same criteria as the national index.

In the index, Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose, received the No. 1 slot. She was the only legislator to receive a score of 100%. Rep. Rick Taggart, R-Grand Junction, had the lowest ranking of any Republican, coming in 30th with 68.97%.

On the Democrat side, Rep. Bob Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, had the highest rating at 34.48%, coming in 31st. Rep. Javier Mabrey, D-Denver, rounded out as last on the list with just 3.45%.

Notably, McGrath said Colorado’s state legislature leans even further left political than the state’s congressional delegation.

“CEA’s state level report for Colorado found the state legislature was much more progressive than the federal delegation,” he said. “The state legislature had a 32.95% voting alignment with biblical principles versus the 39.36% for the federal delegation.”

Redistricting

The index also plays a role in the national conversation surrounding redistricting, which states such as Texas and California have been on the forefront of.

While Colorado only has a slight ideological disconnect between its voters and the way its delegation votes, other states see much more misalignment.

“Each state sends to Washington representatives who reflect the beliefs of its people. That’s why these rankings provide one of the most accurate pictures of where America stands,” said CEA President Margaret Iuculano. “These results underscore why redistricting battles are so critical to the future of our nation.”