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Senator D. Chris Buttars
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2001
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2011
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2011: 0
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2011: 11

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Sen. D. Chris Buttars's service in the Utah legislature. I highlight differences from chamber averages using little green and red arrows. The number of arrows is statistically determined. More arrows indicate a larger difference compared to the chamber average, in relation to how much diversity there is among legislators on this metric. If all legislators introduce exactly 5 bills, then a legislator who introduces 10 is very different; if legislators vary wildly in how many bills they introduce (but the average is still 5), then a legislator who introduces 10 bills may be less different from average. The standard deviation measures this diversity.

Sen. Buttars's statistical profile

20072008200920102011
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber SenateSenateSenateSenateSenate
  District S10S10S10S10S10
  Party RRRRR
Leadership NoneNoneNoneNoneNone
Years in chamber 7891011
Years comparison ==HigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20072008200920102011
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Buttars 712659
Chamber average 9.69.89.08.911
Difference -2.6+2.2-3.0-3.9-1.6
Comparison LowerHigherLowerLower==
 
20072008200920102011
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Sen. Buttars's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 712659
Bills passed 44245
Passage rate 57%33%33%80%56%
Chamber average 63%68%63%69%70%
Difference -5.5-35.0-29.8+11-14.2
Comparison ==LowerLowerLowerLowerHigherLower
 
20072008200920102011
Bills floor sponsored. A "floor sponsor" is like a secondary sponsor of a bill. After a bill passes the sponsor's chamber, its sponsor needs to find a "floor sponsor" in the other chamber to usher it through the other chamber.
Total floor sponsored 115969
Chamber average 1211111111
Difference -0.6-6.5-2.1-5.0-2.4
Comparison ==Lower==Lower==
 
20072008200920102011
Missed votes (learn more). Usually missed votes occur because of competing obligations within the legislature, not because the legislator has left the capitol.
Missed votes 148228160198342
Total votes held 820806807786940
Absentee rate 18%28%20%25%36%
Chamber average 8.9%9.6%11%12%14%
Difference +9.1+18+8.9+13+22
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20072008200920102011
"Nay" votes (learn more). Most floor votes pass by overwhelming majorities, since unpopular bills get weeded out long before they reach the floor. As a result, "nay" votes are rare.
"Nay" votes 2417233421
Total votes held 820806807786940
"Nay" rate 2.9%2.1%2.9%4.3%2.2%
Chamber average 4.1%4.1%4.1%4.6%3.4%
Difference -1.2-2.0-1.2-0.3-1.2
Comparison LowerLowerLower==Lower
 
20072008200920102011
Winning side rate (learn more). What percentage of the time (excluding near-unanimous votes) is the legislator on the winning side of a floor vote?
Winning side rate 79%80%79%75%85%
Chamber average 70%69%70%70%72%
Difference +9.4+10+9.5+4.8+13
Comparison HigherHigherHigher==Higher
 
20072008200920102011
Ideology score (NOMINATE method) (learn more). Using W-NOMINATE algorithm developed by Congressional scholars, I calculate each legislator's relative ideology after each General Session. I describe the method here. Scores have no intrinsic meaning. They are only relative: A legislator with a higher score is to the right ideologically of a legislator with a lower scale. Scores may be compared only within a single chamber and a single year. In most years, a conservative Republican will have a score above 0; a score close to 100 is extreme.
Contact me for scores. They get misinterpreted often enough that I now provide them only to political scientists.
 
20072008200920102011
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Sen. Buttars support his/her party? That is, what percentage of the time does the legislator vote with the majority of the other members of his/her party? Scores are usually easily above 90%.
Score (overall) 97%98%97%95%97%
Chamber average 97%97%97%97%98%
Difference 0.0+1.0-0.3-2.2-0.5
Comparison ==Higher==LowerLowerLower
 
20072008200920102011
Party support score (party-line only) (learn more). This is the same as the "raw" party support score, but we look only at party-line votes when calculating this. A "party-line" vote occurs when the majority of Democrats votes against the majority of Republicans. Although party-line votes are rare, looking at the legislator's party support score in this setting can be revealing.
Score (party-line only) 89%92%98%88%98%
Chamber average 83%85%89%89%91%
Difference +5.8+7.1+8.6-1.0+6.8
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigher==Higher

Votes on Sen. Buttars's bills

Many votes have been held on bills sponsored by Sen. Buttars. In the interest of space, I display only the most and least divisive votes held on Sen. Buttars's bills.

Sen. Buttars's most divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Sen. Buttars that had the closest vote margin (as a percent of the total votes cast). When there are ties, I list the most recent bills first.

Year Sponsor Bill Ayes Nays Margin
(as % of total votes)
Type of vote
2007 Buttars SB0221S02 35 39 5.4% House/ failed
2009 Buttars SB0048 17 11 21% Senate/ pass 2nd (Suspension
2009 Buttars SB0048 18 10 29% Senate/ pass 3rd
2007 Buttars SB0221S02 46 25 30% House/ passed 3rd reading
2010 Buttars SB0251S01 46 24 31% House/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Buttars SB0263 16 7 39% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2011 Buttars SB0001S01 20 7 48% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2009 Buttars SB0048 17 49 48% House/ failed
2011 Buttars SB0001S01 56 18 51% House/ passed 3rd reading
2007 Buttars SB0098S02 20 6 54% Senate/ pass 3rd

Sen. Buttars's least divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Sen. Buttars that had the widest vote margin (as a percent of the total votes cast). When there are ties, I display the most recent bills first.

Year Sponsor Bill Ayes Nays Margin
(as % of total votes)
Type of vote
2011 Buttars SB0318 66 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Buttars SB0318 26 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Buttars SB0212S01 67 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Buttars SB0212S01 69 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Buttars SB0212S01 25 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2011 Buttars SB0110 24 0 100% Senate/ concurs with House amendment
2011 Buttars SB0110 70 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Buttars SB0110 25 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Buttars SB0078 25 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2011 Buttars SB0078 25 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading