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A party's "batting average" reflects the percentage of its bills that manage to pass through the entire legislative process. It won't surprise anybody that bills sponsored by majority party legislators are more likely to pass than minority party bills. What might surprise people is how much these "batting averages" vary from year to year. Some years, minority party legislators pass most of their bills; other years, only a fraction of their bills even come to a vote.
Why might the minority party have a higher batting average some years than others? It boils down to two factors. First, whether the minority party puts forward bills that are likely to attract support from majority party legislators (as opposed to running boutique bills that won't draw cross-party support). Second, whether the majority party leadership chooses to exercise its institutional powers to prevent minority party bills from ever coming to a vote. The data shown here cannot tell you which of those mechanisms is operating from year to year, but there are certainly some intriguing trends.
The figures in this section show the percentage of introduced bills (by party) that ultimately passed the Legislature. ("Passed" means "enrolled"; I ignore gubernatorial vetoes here.)
Without accounting for chamber, this figure shows how Republican- and Democratic-sponsored bills have fared in recent sessions.
| Year | Republicans | Democrats | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 62% | 38% | 24% |
| 2008 | 62% | 41% | 21% |
| 2009 | 71% | 32% | 39% |
| 2010 | 72% | 45% | 27% |
| 2011 | 68% | 46% | 22% |
| 2012 | 64% | 55% | 9% |
| 2013 | 73% | 43% | 30% |
| 2014 | 64% | 49% | 15% |
| 2015 | 65% | 52% | 13% |
| 2016 | 59% | 53% | 6% |
| 2017 | 68% | 53% | 15% |
| 2018 | 66% | 57% | 9% |
| 2019 | 70% | 57% | 13% |
| 2020 | 65% | 46% | 19% |
| 2021 | 70% | 46% | 24% |
| 2022 | 68% | 41% | 27% |
| 2023 | 67% | 34% | 33% |
| 2024 | 69% | 39% | 30% |
Same thing, but looking only at the Utah House
| Year | Republicans | Democrats | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 59% | 23% | 36% |
| 2008 | 57% | 35% | 22% |
| 2009 | 68% | 29% | 39% |
| 2010 | 72% | 41% | 31% |
| 2011 | 63% | 38% | 25% |
| 2012 | 56% | 55% | 1% |
| 2013 | 73% | 38% | 35% |
| 2014 | 56% | 49% | 7% |
| 2015 | 60% | 48% | 12% |
| 2016 | 51% | 52% | 1% |
| 2017 | 61% | 41% | 20% |
| 2018 | 57% | 43% | 14% |
| 2019 | 66% | 48% | 18% |
| 2020 | 63% | 37% | 26% |
| 2021 | 68% | 38% | 30% |
| 2022 | 62% | 34% | 28% |
| 2023 | 61% | 31% | 30% |
| 2024 | 62% | 32% | 30% |
Same thing, but looking only at the Utah Senate. In general, Senators pass more of their bills than Representatives, so that's one difference from the preceding chart.
| Year | Republicans | Democrats | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 65% | 58% | 7% |
| 2008 | 69% | 52% | 17% |
| 2009 | 76% | 37% | 39% |
| 2010 | 73% | 55% | 18% |
| 2011 | 75% | 58% | 17% |
| 2012 | 78% | 56% | 22% |
| 2013 | 73% | 50% | 23% |
| 2014 | 76% | 50% | 26% |
| 2015 | 71% | 58% | 13% |
| 2016 | 73% | 55% | 18% |
| 2017 | 80% | 67% | 13% |
| 2018 | 87% | 70% | 17% |
| 2019 | 79% | 74% | 5% |
| 2020 | 69% | 64% | 5% |
| 2021 | 74% | 61% | 13% |
| 2022 | 79% | 55% | 24% |
| 2023 | 80% | 39% | 41% |
| 2024 | 82% | 52% | 30% |
The figures in this section show the percentage of introduced bills (by party) that received at least one floor vote.
Without accounting for chamber, this figure shows how Republican- and Democratic-sponsored bills have fared in recent sessions.
| Year | Republicans | Democrats | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 81% | 67% | 14% |
| 2008 | 81% | 65% | 16% |
| 2009 | 85% | 50% | 35% |
| 2010 | 80% | 56% | 24% |
| 2011 | 77% | 60% | 17% |
| 2012 | 77% | 72% | 5% |
| 2013 | 80% | 56% | 24% |
| 2014 | 78% | 69% | 9% |
| 2015 | 79% | 68% | 11% |
| 2016 | 76% | 59% | 17% |
| 2017 | 83% | 62% | 21% |
| 2018 | 80% | 73% | 7% |
| 2019 | 78% | 66% | 12% |
| 2020 | 76% | 61% | 15% |
| 2021 | 80% | 62% | 18% |
| 2022 | 79% | 60% | 19% |
| 2023 | 80% | 48% | 32% |
| 2024 | 80% | 55% | 25% |
Same thing, but looking only at the Utah House
| Year | Republicans | Democrats | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 78% | 63% | 15% |
| 2008 | 78% | 59% | 19% |
| 2009 | 83% | 43% | 40% |
| 2010 | 78% | 49% | 29% |
| 2011 | 73% | 53% | 20% |
| 2012 | 72% | 70% | 2% |
| 2013 | 78% | 48% | 30% |
| 2014 | 72% | 69% | 3% |
| 2015 | 74% | 65% | 9% |
| 2016 | 70% | 60% | 10% |
| 2017 | 80% | 53% | 27% |
| 2018 | 75% | 65% | 10% |
| 2019 | 74% | 60% | 14% |
| 2020 | 74% | 56% | 18% |
| 2021 | 76% | 55% | 21% |
| 2022 | 75% | 59% | 16% |
| 2023 | 76% | 45% | 31% |
| 2024 | 76% | 46% | 30% |
Same thing, but looking only at the Utah Senate
| Year | Republicans | Democrats | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 86% | 73% | 13% |
| 2008 | 87% | 75% | 12% |
| 2009 | 89% | 60% | 29% |
| 2010 | 84% | 71% | 13% |
| 2011 | 84% | 68% | 16% |
| 2012 | 86% | 75% | 11% |
| 2013 | 83% | 66% | 17% |
| 2014 | 88% | 71% | 17% |
| 2015 | 87% | 73% | 14% |
| 2016 | 89% | 59% | 30% |
| 2017 | 88% | 73% | 15% |
| 2018 | 92% | 81% | 11% |
| 2019 | 87% | 77% | 10% |
| 2020 | 80% | 72% | 8% |
| 2021 | 88% | 76% | 12% |
| 2022 | 85% | 60% | 25% |
| 2023 | 89% | 54% | 35% |
| 2024 | 89% | 72% | 17% |
