Statistics

How many bills become law each year?

Tens of thousands of bills are filed across the states each year; only a fraction ever reach a governor's desk.

By Laura Davis, Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer at USLege. Former tech policy director and lobbyist, from D.C. to the states.

Across all 50 state legislatures combined, well over 100,000 bills are typically introduced over a two-year legislative cycle, though the exact figure varies year to year and by how bills are counted (some states count companion bills or resolutions differently). Of those introduced, only a fraction are ultimately enacted into law, commonly cited in the range of 10 to 20 percent depending on the state and session, with most bills either dying in committee, failing a floor vote, or simply not receiving a hearing before the session ends.

This ratio varies significantly by state: some legislatures pass a relatively high share of introduced bills, often because a large volume of narrow, non-controversial, or local bills move easily, while others see the vast majority of bills stall. It also varies by session type, since short sessions naturally have less time to move bills to passage than longer ones.

Because published aggregate figures vary by source and year, we'd recommend treating any specific number as directional. USLege tracks real-time bill status across every state and Congress, which is the more reliable way to see exactly how many bills in a current session have passed versus stalled for the specific states a team cares about.

See real-time bill-passage rates for your tracked states.

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Frequently asked

What percentage of introduced bills actually become law?

Commonly cited figures put it in the range of 10 to 20 percent, though this varies significantly by state and by session, and any single aggregate number should be treated as directional rather than precise.

Why do so many bills fail to pass?

Most commonly because they never get a committee hearing before the session ends, or fail to advance out of committee, rather than being voted down on the floor.

Does the bill-to-law ratio vary by state?

Significantly. Some states pass a higher share of introduced bills, often driven by volume of narrow or local bills, while others see most bills stall regardless of subject matter.

Where can I find the exact number of bills passed in a specific state this session?

A live legislative tracking platform showing real-time bill status for that state's current session is the most reliable source, since aggregate multi-state figures are necessarily approximate and lag the current session.

Has the bill-to-law ratio changed over time?

It fluctuates by session and by state's political dynamics, but the broad pattern, most introduced bills failing to pass, has held consistently across recent sessions.

Do budget bills count in bill-passage statistics the same way as regular bills?

Budget or appropriations bills are usually counted separately in most statistics since nearly all states must pass one, unlike discretionary legislation.

Are bills that die in committee counted differently from those that get a floor vote and fail?

Typically both count as "not passed," though some analyses distinguish how far a bill got before failing, which matters more for strategy than for the headline number.

Does party control of a legislature affect how many bills pass?

Unified party control (one party holding the governorship and both chambers) tends to correlate with a higher passage rate, since less negotiation across party lines is needed.

How many bills does a typical state legislature introduce per session?

This varies enormously, from a few hundred in smaller states to several thousand in larger, more active legislatures like New York or California.

Is federal bill passage rate similar to state rates?

Congress generally passes a smaller percentage of introduced bills than most state legislatures, reflecting its larger volume of introductions and more complex procedural hurdles.

Do reintroduced bills from a prior session count as new bills in these statistics?

Yes, typically a reintroduced bill gets a new number and is counted as a new introduction in that session's statistics, even if the text is identical to a prior failed bill.

Where does USLege's bill-passage data come from?

Directly from official legislative sources across the states and Congress USLege tracks, refreshed as part of its live monitoring rather than compiled after the fact.