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Senator John W. Hickman
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 1993
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2008
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2008: 8
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2008: 8

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Sen. John W. Hickman'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. Hickman's statistical profile

20072008
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber SenateSenate
  District S29S29
  Party RR
Leadership NoneNone
Years in chamber 78
Years comparison ==Higher
 
20072008
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Hickman 86
Chamber average 9.69.8
Difference -1.6-3.8
Comparison ==Lower
 
20072008
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Sen. Hickman's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 86
Bills passed 74
Passage rate 88%67%
Chamber average 63%68%
Difference +25-1.0
Comparison HigherHigher==
 
20072008
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 135
Chamber average 1211
Difference +1.4-6.5
Comparison ==Lower
 
20072008
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 170234
Total votes held 820806
Absentee rate 21%29%
Chamber average 8.9%9.6%
Difference +12+19
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20072008
"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 3118
Total votes held 820806
"Nay" rate 3.8%2.2%
Chamber average 4.1%4.1%
Difference -0.3-1.9
Comparison ==Lower
 
20072008
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 73%80%
Chamber average 70%69%
Difference +3.4+11
Comparison ==Higher
 
20072008
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.
 
20072008
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Sen. Hickman 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%98%
Chamber average 97%97%
Difference -0.9+0.6
Comparison LowerHigher
 
20072008
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) 82%90%
Chamber average 83%85%
Difference -1.3+5.2
Comparison ==Higher

Votes on Sen. Hickman's bills

Only 14 bills sponsored by Sen. Hickman have come to a vote. Listed below are all votes held on bills that Sen. Hickman sponsored. The votes are sorted by vote margin, with the most divisive votes listed first.

Year Sponsor Bill Ayes Nays Margin
(as % of total votes)
Type of vote
2008 Hickman SB0123 37 34 4.2% House/ failed
2008 Hickman SB0145 16 10 23% Senate/ pass 2nd
2008 Hickman SB0298S02 20 8 43% Senate/ concurs with House amendments
2008 Hickman SB0081S01 21 8 45% Senate/ pass 2nd
2008 Hickman SB0081S01 56 15 58% House/ passed 3rd reading
2007 Hickman SB0100 56 14 60% House/ passed 3rd reading
2008 Hickman SB0123 21 5 62% Senate/ pass 3rd
2008 Hickman SB0123 24 5 66% Senate/ pass 2nd
2008 Hickman SB0081S01 24 5 66% Senate/ pass 3rd
2007 Hickman SB0010 58 10 71% House/ passed 3rd reading