The Florida First Amendment Foundation graded Florida lawmakers on their support for open government. Escambia County’s three didn’t fare so well. State Sen. Doug Broxson and Rep. Clay Ingram were given C-‘s. Rep. Frank White got a D+.
In Santa Rosa County, Rep. Jayer Williamson earned C-.
The scoring system for the Florida Society of News Editors assigns points for a list of critical government openness bills. Legislators get three points for a floor vote, seven points for co-sponsoring a bill and 10 points for sponsoring a bill that’s on the list. Votes against openness lose points; votes for openness gain points. Legislators got a bonus point for communicating with the Florida First Amendment Foundation about the bill.
The scores were compared to the session’s most extreme legislator — good or bad — and turned into standard letter grades for comparison. A perfectly neutral legislator would get a C. In 2017, the most extreme good score paled in comparison with the most extreme worst vote, leaving no legislator with an A score but some with Fs.