Tag Archives: legislature

Once again, consensus voting reigns in the Utah Legislature

Legislators don’t like to vote “no,” even for bills sponsored by the opposing party. Utah legislators really don’t like to vote “no.” If a bill comes to a vote, you can be all but certain that it will succeed. The … Continue reading

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The 2014 Legislature: Slow out of the gate, frantic in the stretch

Clearly, something caused the Legislature to fall behind in its bill processing this year. Utah legislators introduced 786 bills and resolutions in the 2014 session—fewer than the 800 we saw in 2009, but still higher than usual. However, a procedural … Continue reading

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Did changing the calendar create a major crunch day in the Legislature?

Legislators can either rush bills through the process with minimal debate in order to clear the backlog, or they can take a more methodical pace even if it means some good bills don’t get to come to a vote before … Continue reading

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How busy has the Legislature been so far?

Today the Tribune quotes Sen. John Valentine reporting that the Legislature has introduced a record high number of bills so far, but that it has passed a record low number. I thought I’d give some additional numbers for perspective. Sen. … Continue reading

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Does it matter that the Utah Senate votes twice on each bill?

There’s an odd thing about the Utah Legislature. The Utah House holds only one debate and vote on each bill, but the Utah Senate holds two debates and two votes on each bill. Let’s ask three questions about the Senate’s … Continue reading

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What kind of Republican is Spencer Cox?

Spencer Cox is about as run-of-the-mill of a Republican as Utah can produce. Governor Gary Herbert has nominated Spencer Cox to replace Greg Bell as Utah’s new Lieutenant Governor. Few outside the Legislature had heard Cox’s name before the governor’s … Continue reading

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New ideology ratings for the Utah Legislature

Two years ago I released ideology scores for each Utah legislator who served between 2007 and 2011. Today I’m releasing an update that extends the scores through 2013. (Thanks to my research assistant, Justin Chang, for invaluable help.) I’ve written … Continue reading

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Utahns don’t know much about Utah government

Utahns don’t know much about national politics, but they know even less about Utah politics. Although Americans often take pride in living in the world’s oldest democracy, American voters tend to do a very poor job answering basic questions about … Continue reading

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Recap: Looking back at the 2013 Utah Legislature

I’ve posted tons of stats about the Utah Legislature in the past couple days. To recap, here’s a quick summary of some of what you can now find here: Do legislators work enough to justify their salary? If you take … Continue reading

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Who missed the most votes in 2013?

With so much going on in such a short session, it may be inevitable that legislators may miss lots of votes Utah’s Constitution limits the Legislature to convening for only 45 days each year. Once you take out the weekends, … Continue reading

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