THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: AN ...

38 THE NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS: AN EVALUATION AND BLUEPRINT FOR REFORM
the sponsorship process to accomplish these political goals.
In fact, claiming credit for the introduction of legislation (without regard to
its likelihood of passage) is a critical part of legislators’ public relations and
campaign strategies. For the most part, members of the public and even outside
advocates of specific bills do not perceive the introduction of a bill as an empty
gesture, even if, statistically, it almost always is. The substantial political value of
simply introducing legislation may explain, at least in part, why most members do
not object more vocally to their leaders’ control over the full Legislature’s true
consideration and passage of legislation. This may be the key lesson to be drawn
from New York State’s high rate of introduction and low rate of enactment.
In addition, although further research is needed to determine the precise impact
of this high rate of bills introduced but not passed, these figures suggest that
substantial staff and member resources are inefficiently devoted not to the proportionately
few bills that may pass the Legislature but to the mountain of bills
that will never even reach a committee vote much less final passage into law. As
discussed in more detail in a later section, this inefficiency may help to explain the
apparent contradiction between New York’s high expenditures on the
Legislature’s operations and staff and the limited role played by most members in
the production and negotiation of final legislation.
This inefficient use of resources also undermines the conclusion that New York’s
Legislature must introduce more bills than other legislatures simply to address the
inherently complex and numerous challenges faced by such a large and diverse
state. Indeed, one Assembly member noted that the large number of bills
introduced often precludes in-depth discussion of important bills by dividing
members’ attention. 255
FIGURE 20
BILLS INTRODUCED AND ENACTED IN THE PROFESSIONAL LEGISLATURES, 2002
(Sorted by Enactment Rate)
State Bills Introduced Bills Enacted Percent Enacted
Michigan 1112 767 69.0%
Ohio 324 167 51.5%
California 5162 2118 41.0%
Illinois 8717 746 8.6%
Wisconsin 497 42 8.5%
Pennsylvania 4356 353 8.1%
Massachusetts 7924 525 6.6%
New York 16892 693 4.1%
New Jersey 5004 134 2.7%