Data Points: Legislature 2023
The 94th General Assembly by the numbers
Overview
Overall, there were 1,439 bills filed this session. Of those, 890 were signed into law (62%). 546 of them weren’t passed (38%) by the legislature, including 58 bills that were assigned to interim study. 4 bills were passed by the legislature but vetoed by the governor, one of which was a line item veto with the remaining bill becoming law.
Nutshell
Total bills: 1,439
Became law: 62%
Not passed: 38%
Vetoed: 4 (1 was line item)
House vs. Senate
The House filed 59% (849) of the bills, and the Senate filed 41% (590). The Senate had a slightly higher success rate, with 64% of its bills becoming law compared to 61% for the House.
Nutshell
House
Had 59% of total bills filed
61% passed
39% didn’t pass
Senate
Had 41% of total bills filed
64% passed
36% didn’t pass
Democrat vs Republican
Republicans filed 78% of the bills introduced (1,128), while Democrats only filed 9% of the bills (124). The remaining bills were budget bills filed by the Joint Budget Committee. That averages to 5 bills filed per Democratic legislator and 10 bills filed per Republican legislator.
Of the bills filed by Democrats, just 39.5% were signed into law, while 58% of the Republican bills were signed into law.
Nutshell
Republicans
Filed 78% of the bills
Averaged 10 bills filed per legislator
58% of bills filed became law
Democrats
Filed 9% of the bills
Averaged 5 bills filed per legislator
39.5% of bills filed became law
Type of bills filed
Bills are divided up over several committees and can give insight into the types of issues they are addressing. In order, here are types of bills filed (in the major committees).
15% Budget (appropriation bills)
14% Judiciary
12% Public Health
11% Education
9% State Agencies and Government Affairs
9% Insurance and Commerce
8% Revenue and Tax
6% City, County and Local Affairs
5% Transportation
4% Public Retirement
4% Agriculture
Where bills died
As mentioned above, 38% of the bills filed didn’t pass. Some of these were never heard. Some were heard and failed to get the required votes, either in committee or in one of the chamber floor votes. Of the 546 that didn’t pass, 52% of them died in the House, 39% died in the Senate, and 8.5% died in joint committees.
Bills were most likely to die in Revenue and Tax committees, whether in the House or the Senate. 9% of total bills filed died here, and 61% of the bills assigned to a Rev and Tax committee dying there. House Judiciary was the second toughest committee, with 8% of all bills filed (of any type) dying here.
House
Overall, 52% of bills died in the House
93% of dead bills in House died in committee, 3% on the floor
Senate
Overall, 39% of bills died here
86% of dead bills died in committee, 14% on the floor
Top 15 most likely place for bills to die
House Revenue and Tax (9% of total bills filed died here)
House Judiciary (8%)
Public Retirement (6%)
Senate Judiciary (6%)
Senate Floor (6%)
House Education (5%)
House Public Health (5%)
Senate Revenue and Tax (5%)
Senate Public Health (5%)
Senate Insurance and Commerce (5%)
House Insurance and Commerce (4%)
House State Agencies (4%)
Senate Education (4%)
Senate State Agencies (4%)
House Transportation (4%)
Percentage of bills assigned to that committee that didn’t pass (both chambers combined unless specified)
Revenue and Tax (61% of bills assigned here didn’t pass)
Rules (House only, 60% didn’t pass)
Retirement (55%)
Transportation (39%)
Judiciary (38%)
Insurance and Commerce (36%)
Education (34%)
Public Health (33%)
State Agencies (33%)
City, County, Local (30%)
Agriculture (28%)
Budget (5%)
Legislator success
The legislator with the most bills signed into law was Senator Missy Irvin with 38. The top 22 were all Republicans.
Top 10 legislators for total bills passed:
Sen. Missy Irvin (38 passed, 72% success)
Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (33 passed, 72% success)
Sen. Kim Hammer (26 passed, 74% success)
Rep. Lee Johnson (26 passed, 52% success)
Sen. Jonathan Dismang (22 passed, 81% success)
Rep. DeAnn Vaught (20 passed, 53% success)
Rep. John Maddox (15 passed, 75% success)
Sen. Jane English (15 passed, 71% success)
Rep. David Ray (15 passed, 52% success)
Rep. Robin Lundstrum (14 passed, 50% success)
Top 3 Democrats
Rep. Andrew Collins (9 passed, 60% success)
Sen. Clarke Tucker (8 passed, 35% success)
Rep. Mark Perry (5 passed, 83% success)
17 (13%) legislators proposed bills but didn’t have any passed (6 Democrats, 11 Republicans). There were 4 legislators that weren’t the primary sponsor on any bills. And 41 (30%) legislators were the primary sponsor on 3 or fewer bills.
