By Amy Goldstein, Lucy Shackelford and Dan Keating
February 12, 2010; A01
When he reported to the U.S. Capitol this week, Sen. Scott P. Brown completed an improbable ascent from the Massachusetts statehouse, where, as a junior member of an outmatched Republican minority, he left a faint imprint on the commonwealth.
For Democrats and Republicans eager for clues to the ideological influence Brown might have on Washington -- whether he will align firmly with congressional Republicans or fulfill his campaign promise to be an independent voice -- his political past offers intriguing but incomplete evidence.
During his 11 years on Boston's Beacon Hill, one of the nearly 180 bills that Brown introduced became law, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. He voted with the state legislature's Republican minority leaders about 90 percent of the time, agreeing with the Democratic majority least often on taxes and most often on matters involving energy and the environment, according to the analysis of every roll-call vote Brown cast.
In interviews, state Senate colleagues of both political parties and Massachusetts political observers consistently describe Brown as diligent and "a really likable guy," as the state Senate's former minority leader, Brian P. Lees, put it. But people who know him also say that, in part because of the limited capacity of the GOP in an overwhelmingly Democratic body, Brown was seldom a forceful or visible presence.
--snip--
On the first non-unanimous vote in which he took part in the U.S. Senate, Brown voted Tuesday with every other Republican to block the confirmation of a union lawyer to the National Labor Relations Board.
--snip--
State Senate President Therese Murray, a Democrat, recalled that Brown advocated successfully for a measure setting penalties for sex offenses. "Other than that," Murray said, "I don't remember him taking the lead on anything at all."
To explore Brown's views and priorities, The Washington Post analyzed his roll-call votes, based on a database provided by InstaTrac, a Boston company that compiles state legislative information. The Post also examined all the bills he filed.
The only bill Brown got through the state Senate during his half a dozen years there was a measure making it easier for returning veterans to claim a $1,000 "welcome home" payment. His only legislative successes previously in the Massachusetts House were nine local measures, including one that allowed a pizzeria to sell wine and others that allowed two employees to save sick leave.
Among the legislation Brown sponsored, the most frequent involved the military and veterans, mirroring his own longtime service in the National Guard, followed by law enforcement. Over time, Brown increasingly reintroduced legislation that had failed -- about two-thirds of his bills were repeats.
His history, including on issues relevant to Congress, is mixed.
Calling himself a fiscal conservative, he repeatedly introduced legislation that would lower the state income tax and voted against the Democratic majority on taxes more than half the time; yet he simultaneously opposed many efforts by governors to curb state spending.
He has also shifted his stances on certain polarizing social issues. Most recently, he backed away after his election from his longtime support for the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which prohibits openly gay men and lesbians from serving in the military, telling a television interviewer that he wanted first to ask generals what they thought.
Read more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/11/AR2010021105010_pf.html
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
