Who sponsored the most bills in 2012?

I’ve seen a few media reports claiming that Utah Rep. John Dougall sponsored more bills than any other legislator this session, or that he sponsored more bills than any one legislator has sponsored in any session in recent memory (see here or here for examples). This is not true. Let’s put this myth to rest.

During the 2012 session, John Dougall did indeed prepare a large number of bills. There are 23 bills clearly attributable to him. There’s one more bill that is apparently his, although there is some confusion on the legislature’s website as to whether this is Rep. Dougall’s bill or Rep. Ipson’s bill. I assume it is Rep. Dougall’s, so let’s call it 24 bills for 2012. (We’ll be generous and ignore the fact that some of these were empty “boxcar” bills without any content.) How does that compare?

Most active bill sponsors during the 2012 session

First, let’s list legislators by how many bills they numbered. Sen. Bramble tops the list, with Rep. Dougall in second place.

Now, let’s list legislators by how many bills they actually introduced. That means the bill had substance, not just a number, and the legislator made a minimal effort to see the bill passed.

And now the kicker: How many bills actually came to a vote? Regardless of whether each bill passed, let’s consider how many bills each legislator managed to get through committee and bring to a vote on the floor of at least one chamber.

Rep. Dougall doesn’t appear on that list at all. He numbered a lot of bills, but he didn’t introduce all of them, and he certainly didn’t bring them all to a vote. (He brought 13 bills to a vote, putting himself in 6th place.)

There’s no question that Rep. Dougall was very busy this session. He worked hard. So did a lot of other legislators, though. As hard as he worked, Rep. Dougall was not the most active bill sponsor this session. By any measure, that was Sen. Bramble.

Most active bill sponsors since 2007

Just for comparison, let’s look at the most active bill sponsors since 2007. I treat each year separately, the same legislator might appear multiple times in this list. This list shows any legislator who numbered 23 ore more bills in a single year since 2007. (You can find bill sponsorship data for all legislators here.)

Punchline

Rep. Dougall worked hard this session and sponsored a lot of bills. But let’s put to rest this claim that he sponsored more than anybody has sponsored in recent memory, or that he sponsored more than anybody else this year. I haven’t heard him say that, but it’s been floating around in the press.

Possibly related posts:

• Analysis of voting patterns in the 2018 Utah Legislature
• Who sponsored the most bills in the 2014 Utah Legislature?
• Once again, consensus voting reigns in the Utah Legislature

Possibly related posts (automatically generated)

• Will Utah’s redistricting committee be biased? (April 7, 2011)
• Who voted “no” in the 2012 Utah legislature? (March 14, 2012)
• Who voted “nay” most often in the 2013 Utah Legislature? (March 27, 2013)