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Representative Phil Riesen
Utah legislator profile

Years served in the Utah legislature

First session in legislature: 2007
Most recent year of service for which data are available: 2010
Total sessions served in Utah House as of 2010: 4
Total sessions served in Utah Senate as of 2010: 0

How to read the statistical profile

I present a variety of statistics about Rep. Phil Riesen'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. Riesen's statistical profile

2007200820092010
Service summary. Service prior to 2007 (if any) is not shown here. My database goes back only to 2007.
  Chamber HouseHouseHouseHouse
  District H36H36H36H36
  Party DDDD
Leadership NoneCaucusMgrNoneNone
Years in chamber 1234
Years comparison LowerLowerLowerLower
 
2007200820092010
Bills sponsored (learn more) Bills written and promoted by the legislator in his/her own chamber.
Introduced by Riesen 1231
Chamber average 6.16.15.96.1
Difference -5.1-4.1-2.9-5.1
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
2007200820092010
Bill passage rate (learn more). What percent of Rep. Riesen's sponsored bills pass and are officially "enrolled"? (I ignore whether the governor signed or vetoted the bill.)
Bills introduced 1231
Bills passed 0200
Passage rate 0.0%100%0.0%0.0%
Chamber average 51%53%60%61%
Difference -50.6+47-59.9-60.9
Comparison LowerLowerHigherHigherLowerLowerLowerLower
 
2007200820092010
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 1101
Chamber average 3.13.22.82.8
Difference -2.1-2.2-2.8-1.8
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLower
 
2007200820092010
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 1136913
Total votes held 602616600614
Absentee rate 1.8%5.8%1.5%2.1%
Chamber average 8.3%8.3%6.0%6.8%
Difference -6.5-2.5-4.5-4.7
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
2007200820092010
"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 73516963
Total votes held 602616600614
"Nay" rate 12%8.3%12%10%
Chamber average 7.2%6.0%8.1%7.4%
Difference +4.8+2.3+3.9+2.6
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
2007200820092010
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 41%46%54%58%
Chamber average 67%69%66%69%
Difference -25.2-23.3-12.7-10.9
Comparison LowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLowerLower
 
2007200820092010
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.
 
2007200820092010
Party support score (overall) (learn more). How consistently does Rep. Riesen 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%95%96%
Chamber average 95%95%94%95%
Difference +2.4+1.7+0.8+1.3
Comparison HigherHigherHigherHigherHigher
 
2007200820092010
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%84%81%91%
Chamber average 79%82%81%84%
Difference +14+1.9-0.1+6.9
Comparison Higher====Higher

Votes on Rep. Riesen's bills

Only 2 bills sponsored by Rep. Riesen have come to a vote. Listed below are all votes held on bills that Rep. Riesen 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 Riesen HB0048S01 50 21 41% House/ passed 3rd reading
2008 Riesen HB0015 50 17 49% House/ concurs with Senate amendments
2008 Riesen HB0015 52 15 55% House/ passed 3rd reading
2008 Riesen HB0048S01 25 3 79% Senate/ pass 2nd & 3rd (Suspension)
2008 Riesen HB0015 29 0 100% Senate/ pass 3rd
2008 Riesen HB0015 27 0 100% Senate/ pass 2nd