Senator Gibbs - Speechless

The primary duty of legislators is to legislate - make laws or bills. A Senate district is approximately 20,000 people. When a legislator CHOOSES not to vote, that means that 20,000 residents become disenfranchised. So when I see my legislator casting NO VOTE twenty times this year, I get upset. And apparently this is not unusual reviewing other years (but it's not easy tracing out votes - why is that?). I don't mean abstaining either - for that you'd have to present a specific reason. I mean being there and just not voting.

Let me give examples. Remember the lottery expansion proposed by the Guv last yr.? No vote. And I thought that she was morally opposed to gambling? Mandated coverage of hearing aids by Medicaid - no vote. Health Care Quality Program (hospitals must submit a core-staffing plan) - no vote. Animal Care ( shelters may put down animals with lethal injections only) - no vote. Forming the position of a Small Business Advocate - no vote. A taxation exemption for artists in the district - no vote. Regarding the Newport County Visitors Bureau - no vote. A time share act regarding the taxation of property in Newport - no vote.

All of th ese bills passed. There were others, some of which passed and others which didn't - a criminal injury compensation bill and some post retirement rules regarding benefits & contributions. - no vote. Then there were the ones that passed but were vetoed by the Guv- like time-share taxation,

Could her vote have made a difference? Gee, I thought that every vote counted. So why no vote?Enquiring minds want to know.