The National Taxpayers Union today released the fiscal scorecard for the second session of the 115th Congress. It was a year in which there was no TCJA-size major tax legislation and a Congress that was in campaign mode for much of the year, but 17 Representatives and 8 Senators still earned high enough marks to deserve a “Taxpayers’ Friend” award, with some of those receiving the distinction being some of the most historically taxpayer-friendly members of Congress.
“2018 saw a number of difficult fiscal policy votes in Congress, and any lawmaker who earned a high score for this past year can truly be known as a friend to taxpayers,” said Pete Sepp, President of the National Taxpayers Union. “Taking bold stands on limited government, free trade, and fiscal responsibility is courageous in an election year, which is why NTU is so grateful to those members of Congress who stood so firmly with taxpayers in the 2nd session of the 115th Congress.”
NTU’s scorecard included hundreds of votes in the House and Senate, with a rating designed to calculate a Member’s voting record on fiscal responsibility by evaluating every vote that has an impact on tax, spending, trade and regulatory policy. No other fiscal policy scorecard is as comprehensive as NTU’s, which is in its 39th year of evaluating legislators.
“Every American who is represented by a Taxpayers' Friend Award-winner can be proud that their pocketbook is being responsibly protected in Washington,” Sepp said.
For 39 years, NTU’s Rates Congress has remained the only fiscal policy scorecard to include every roll call vote affecting taxpayers, utilizing a sophisticated evaluation process. NTU has recognized Representatives and Senators who annually earn high voting scores to qualify them for the “Taxpayers’ Friend Award.” See NTU’s full 2018 congressional scorecard and further analysis here.