Voters during the 2022 November midterm election.
(Photo: John Partipilo)
During the last two-year legislative session, Tennessee lawmakers introduced almost 3,000 bills, passing about a third, but some members of the General Assembly are more effective or willing to sponsor legislation than others.
The concentration of who passes legislation is most evident in the state House, where Republican House Majority Leader William Lamberth of Portland is single-handedly responsible for a tenth of the bills that moved through. This is partially because, by tradition, he sponsors almost all of Gov. Bill Lee’s proposals.
The data from LegiScan and analyzed by the Lookout tracks who was the lead sponsor a bill, not co-sponsors.
Overall, 25 House members passed more than half of the bills through Tennessee’s lower chamber during the 2023-2024 General Assembly. Only oneo9kp?Democrat appears in the top 25, Rep. Bob Freeman of Nashville.
This year, half the state Senate and the entire state House are up for reelection. The primary election is on Thursday, Aug. 1, and the general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Both parties have gerrymandered legislative districts for decades, making the general election often irrelevant. This means the August primary is likely to decide the eventual winner of any race.
The current map favors Republicans, who controlled the redistricting process in 2022. At least two Republicans are running in 28 primaries, and 14 Democratic primaries are competitive.
A Lookout analysis shows that there could be about a dozen state House races during the general election that either political party could win, but it’s likely to be narrowed down to more like three to five.
Visual analysis: The Tennessee House races potentially in play for either party in 2024
As part of the run-up to the election, the Lookout is producing several articles to preview the 2024 election. Below is a searchable table for readers to see how effective their lawmakers are at either sponsoring bills and passing them.
As the party in the super minority, several Democrats have the worst bill passage rate, but they attempt to run dozens of bills, even when they have little chance of passing.
Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat, ran the largest number of bills of anyone at the Capitol during the 2023-2024 General Assembly.
But some Republicans in the House are just as ineffective. Some 28 House members, 9 Republicans and 19 Democrats, passed fewer than 5 bills over the past two years.
The data excludes resolutions passed by lawmakers and legislation to renew departments and boards, which often pass without much disagreement.
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