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Senator Scott D. McCoy
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2005
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2009
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2009: 0
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2009: 5

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Sen. Scott D. McCoy'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. McCoy's statistical profile

200720082009
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber SenateSenateSenate
  District S2S2S2
  Party DDD
Leadership NoneNoneNone
Years in chamber 345
Years comparison LowerLower==
 
200720082009
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by McCoy 121115
Chamber average 9.69.89.0
Difference +2.4+1.2+6.0
Comparison Higher==HigherHigher
 
200720082009
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Sen. McCoy's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 121115
Bills passed 643
Passage rate 50%36%20%
Chamber average 63%68%63%
Difference -12.5-32.0-42.8
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
200720082009
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 321
Chamber average 121111
Difference -8.6-9.5-10.1
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
200720082009
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 448667
Total votes held 820806807
Absentee rate 5.4%11%8.3%
Chamber average 8.9%9.6%11%
Difference -3.5+1.4-2.8
Comparison Lower==Lower
 
200720082009
"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 767985
Total votes held 820806807
"Nay" rate 9.3%9.8%11%
Chamber average 4.1%4.1%4.1%
Difference +5.2+5.7+6.9
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
200720082009
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 44%32%37%
Chamber average 70%69%70%
Difference -26.3-36.9-33.0
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
200720082009
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.
 
200720082009
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Sen. McCoy 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) 95%94%95%
Chamber average 97%97%97%
Difference -1.8-2.7-2.0
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
200720082009
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) 93%83%96%
Chamber average 83%85%89%
Difference +9.8-1.5+6.9
Comparison HigherHigher==Higher

Votes on Sen. McCoy's bills

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

Sen. McCoy's most divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Sen. McCoy 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 McCoy SB0043 16 9 28% Senate/ pass 2nd
2008 McCoy SB0014 18 10 29% Senate/ pass 3rd
2008 McCoy SB0014 20 9 38% Senate/ pass 2nd
2007 McCoy SB0043 20 7 48% Senate/ pass 3rd
2009 McCoy SB0058 21 6 56% Senate/ pass 2nd
2008 McCoy SB0167 55 13 62% House/ passed 3rd reading
2008 McCoy SB0167 23 4 70% Senate/ pass 3rd
2007 McCoy SB0192 21 2 83% Senate/ pass 2nd
2009 McCoy SB0183 24 2 85% Senate/ pass 3rd
2009 McCoy SB0058 24 2 85% Senate/ pass 3rd

Sen. McCoy's least divisive bills

Listed below are the 10 votes on bills sponsored by Sen. McCoy 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
2009 McCoy SJR008 72 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2009 McCoy SJR008 28 0 100% Senate/ pass 3rd
2009 McCoy SJR008 28 0 100% Senate/ pass 2nd
2009 McCoy SJR004 67 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2009 McCoy SJR004 27 0 100% Senate/ passed 3rd reading
2009 McCoy SB0106S01 27 0 100% Senate/ pass 3rd
2009 McCoy SB0106S01 25 0 100% Senate/ pass 2nd
2008 McCoy SB0263 28 0 100% Senate/ concurs with House amendments
2008 McCoy SB0263 68 0 100% House/ passed 3rd reading
2008 McCoy SB0263 29 0 100% Senate/ pass 2nd & 3rd