Senator Rated Tops Among Valley’s State Legislators : Hart Votes Please Conservationists

Among San Fernando Valley state legislators, Sen. Gary Hart (D-Santa Barbara) received the highest environmental rating in a legislative report card issued this week by the California League of Conservation Voters.

Hart, whose district includes Woodland Hills, sided with the environmentalists 96% of the time, according to the league.

Close behind Hart were Assemblymen Gray Davis (D-Sherman Oaks) and Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda), who received ratings of 91% and 87%, respectively.

Low Republican Ratings

On the flip side, Valley area Republicans received the lowest ratings, with Assemblyman Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks earning the worst approval rating--30%.

The report cards are issued annually by the league, which is the political action arm of the environmental movement in the state, said Dorothy Green, a board member and president of the Los Angeles chapter. The ratings are based on how the legislators voted in a sampling of what the organization considered the most important environmental bills of the 1984 session.

When applicable, the legislators also were rated on their committee votes. Katz, who was vice chairman of the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee last year and the author of landmark legislation passed last year that is designed to protect drinking water from toxic infiltration, received a 100% rating on his committee votes. Hart also received a 100% rating for his votes on the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee, while Gray Davis received a 67% rating for his votes on the Ways and Means and Health committees.

Democrats Improved

All of the Valley Democrats improved their ratings over the 1983 legislative session, but most of the Republicans received worse ratings.

Here is how the Republicans fared in 1984 and 1983:

Sen. Ed Davis of Northridge, 35%, down from 50% in 1983; Assemblywoman Marian LaFollette of Northridge, 40%, down from 56%; Assemblywoman Cathie Wright of Simi Valley, 38%, up from 12%; McClintock, 30%, down from 60% in 1983.

The Democrats’ ratings:

Gray Davis, 91%, up from 85% in 1983; Hart, 96%, up from 94%; Assemblyman Tom Bane of Van Nuys, 86%, up from 69%; and Katz, 87%, up from 68%. The biggest about-face was made by Sen. Alan Robbins of Van Nuys, who received a 70% rating this year, contrasted with a 35% rating in 1983.