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Senator Patricia W. Jones
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2001
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2014
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2014: 6
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2014: 8

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Sen. Patricia W. Jones'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. Jones's statistical profile

20072008200920102011201220132014
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber SenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenateSenate
  District S4S4S4S4S4S4S4S4
  Party DDDDDDDD
Leadership CaucusMgrAsstWhipMinLdrMinLdrAsstWhipAsstWhipAsstWhipAsstWhip
Years in chamber 12345678
Years comparison LowerLowerLower==========
 
20072008200920102011201220132014
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Jones 55656655
Chamber average 9.69.89.08.9119.81111
Difference -4.6-4.8-3.0-3.9-4.6-3.8-5.8-5.6
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
20072008200920102011201220132014
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Sen. Jones's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 55656655
Bills passed 42525644
Passage rate 80%40%83%40%83%100%80%80%
Chamber average 63%68%63%69%70%72%65%70%
Difference +17-28.0+20-28.6+13+28+15+10
Comparison HigherLowerLowerHigherLowerLowerHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20072008200920102011201220132014
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 49366344
Chamber average 1211111111121111
Difference -7.6-2.5-8.1-5.0-5.4-8.8-7.1-7.5
Comparison Lower==LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
20072008200920102011201220132014
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 2927483776655049
Total votes held 820806807786940890940840
Absentee rate 3.5%3.3%5.9%4.7%8.1%7.3%5.3%5.8%
Chamber average 8.9%9.6%11%12%14%9.9%11%12%
Difference -5.4-6.3-5.2-7.2-6.3-2.6-5.8-5.7
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
20072008200920102011201220132014
"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 4445454262553947
Total votes held 820806807786940890940840
"Nay" rate 5.4%5.6%5.6%5.3%6.6%6.2%4.1%5.6%
Chamber average 4.1%4.1%4.1%4.6%3.4%4.8%3.7%3.6%
Difference +1.3+1.5+1.5+0.7+3.2+1.4+0.4+2.0
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher==Higher
 
20072008200920102011201220132014
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 55%51%54%56%30%47%61%66%
Chamber average 70%69%70%70%72%70%69%67%
Difference -15.0-18.3-16.1-14.6-41.9-24.0-7.3-1.3
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower==
 
20072008200920102011201220132014
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.
 
20072008200920102011201220132014
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Sen. Jones 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%97%97%98%98%97%99%98%
Chamber average 97%97%97%97%98%96%97%97%
Difference -0.1+0.3+0.1+0.7+0.4+0.8+1.6+1.4
Comparison ======HigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
20072008200920102011201220132014
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) 77%78%76%81%84%76%86%90%
Chamber average 83%85%89%89%91%88%85%84%
Difference -6.1-6.8-13.1-7.5-7.1-11.8+1.3+6.1
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower==Higher

Votes on Sen. Jones's bills

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

Sen. Jones's most divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Sen. Jones 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 Jones SB0036S01 33 39 8.3% House/ failed
2012 Jones SB0041S05 39 32 9.9% House/ passed 3rd reading
2007 Jones SB0036S01 16 13 10% Senate/ pass 3rd
2007 Jones SB0036S01 16 12 14% Senate/ pass 2nd
2011 Jones SB0042 44 27 24% House/ passed 3rd reading
2007 Jones SB0052 41 23 28% House/ passed 3rd reading
2012 Jones SB0041S05 18 9 33% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2012 Jones SB0041S05 18 8 38% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2007 Jones SB0026 20 6 54% Senate/ pass 2nd (Suspension
2013 Jones SB0043S01 54 16 54% House/ passed 3rd reading

Sen. Jones's least divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Sen. Jones 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
2014 Jones SCR003 26 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2014 Jones SCR003 24 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2014 Jones SB0147S04 27 0 100% Senate/ concurs with House amendment
2014 Jones SB0147S04 26 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2014 Jones SB0147S04 22 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading
2014 Jones SB0115 24 0 100% Senate/ concurs with House amendment
2014 Jones SB0115 26 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2014 Jones SB0040S01 26 0 100% Senate/ concurs with House amendment
2014 Jones SB0040S01 28 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2014 Jones SB0040S01 25 0 100% Senate/ passed 2nd reading