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Representative Stephen G. Handy
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2011
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2022
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2022: 12
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2022: 0

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Rep. Stephen G. Handy'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.

Rep. Handy's statistical profile

201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber HouseHouseHouseHouseHouseHouseHouseHouseHouseHouseHouseHouse
  District H16H16H16H16H16H16H16H16H16H16H16H16
  Party RRRRRRRRRRRR
Leadership NoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNone
Years in chamber 123456789101112
Years comparison LowerLower========HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Handy 42471019191717161618
Chamber average 6.36.45.86.46.77.06.77.17.37.36.67.1
Difference -2.3-4.4-1.8+0.6+3.3+12+12+9.9+9.7+8.7+9.4+11
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLower==HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Rep. Handy's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 42471019191717161618
Bills passed 21436129109798
Passage rate 50%50%100%43%60%63%47%59%53%44%56%44%
Chamber average 55%54%66%52%63%54%61%53%63%58%60%58%
Difference -5.0-4.3+34-9.2-3.0+9.5-14.4+5.6-10.5-13.6-3.8-14.2
Comparison ====HigherHigher====HigherLower==LowerLower==Lower
 
201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
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 2411392633556
Chamber average 3.33.13.53.53.83.33.63.43.43.13.13.0
Difference -1.3+0.9+7.5-0.5+5.2-1.3+2.4-0.4-0.4+1.9+1.9+3.0
Comparison Lower==HigherHigherHigher==HigherHigherLowerHigher====HigherHigherHigher
 
201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
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 1735572415288341036
Total votes held 651651658664699657727734752698666711
Absentee rate 0.2%1.1%5.3%0.8%1.0%3.7%2.1%3.8%1.1%4.9%1.5%5.1%
Chamber average 7.1%5.7%5.9%6.2%6.3%6.4%5.2%8.0%6.4%7.1%6.1%5.7%
Difference -6.9-4.6-0.6-5.4-5.3-2.7-3.1-4.2-5.3-2.2-4.6-0.6
Comparison LowerLowerLower==LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower==Lower==
 
201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
"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 273538415231243730393729
Total votes held 651651658664699657727734752698666711
"Nay" rate 4.1%5.4%5.8%6.2%7.4%4.7%3.3%5.0%4.0%5.6%5.6%4.1%
Chamber average 8.4%7.8%7.3%7.5%8.6%7.3%7.1%6.5%6.5%7.0%7.7%6.5%
Difference -4.3-2.4-1.5-1.3-1.2-2.6-3.8-1.5-2.5-1.4-2.1-2.4
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
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 84%79%66%73%74%75%80%80%79%75%81%72%
Chamber average 69%67%67%67%67%66%67%66%68%67%66%67%
Difference +15+12-0.9+6.0+6.2+9.1+13+14+11+8.0+15+5.2
Comparison HigherHigherHigher==HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
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.
 
201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Rep. Handy 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) 96%95%96%95%94%96%97%96%96%94%95%95%
Chamber average 94%94%95%94%94%95%95%94%95%95%94%95%
Difference +2.0+0.4+0.8+0.7+0.4+1.4+1.9+2.4+0.8-0.5+1.9-0.3
Comparison Higher========HigherHigher==Higher======
 
201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
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) 78%68%71%74%68%79%84%75%74%68%77%66%
Chamber average 85%83%81%80%82%85%87%83%85%83%85%84%
Difference -6.9-15.0-10.0-6.6-14.1-6.7-3.2-8.0-10.2-15.8-8.0-18.3
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower

Votes on Rep. Handy's bills

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

Rep. Handy's most divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Rep. Handy 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
2017 Handy HB0029S04 37 38 1.3% House/ failed
2021 Handy HB0198 36 35 1.4% House/ failed
2020 Handy HB0088S01 34 33 1.5% House/ failed
2022 Handy HB0415S01 36 34 2.9% House/ failed
2015 Handy HB0406S01 39 36 4.0% House/ passed 3rd reading
2019 Handy HB0098 38 35 4.1% House/ passed 3rd reading
2020 Handy HB0317S02 29 36 11% House/ failed
2017 Handy HB0360S03 32 41 12% House/ failed
2017 Handy HB0222S02 42 31 15% House/ passed 3rd reading
2017 Handy HB0222S02 15 11 15% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension

Rep. Handy's least divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Rep. Handy 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
2022 Handy HCR012 65 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Handy HB0388S01 28 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
2022 Handy HB0388S01 72 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Handy HB0297 27 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Handy HB0297 23 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2022 Handy HB0297 66 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Handy HB0280S04 74 0 100% House/ concurs with Senate amendment
2022 Handy HB0280S04 23 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2022 Handy HB0280S04 23 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2022 Handy HB0280S04 73 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading