Democratic Bills Stymied in 2013 Legislature

At Utah Data Points, Adam Brown tries to figure out why Democratic bills received far less favorable treatment in the 2013 Legislature than in the 2011 and 2012 legislative sessions.

The cross-chamber difference almost leaps off the page. The Senate saw very little change–Democrats have received steady treatment for the past 4 sessions, since 2010. In the House, there was an abrupt shift. During her first 2 years as Speaker, 2011 and 2012, Becky Lockhart ushered in a period of surprising fairness for Democrats. In 2012, the partisan gap in the House was a mere 2 percentage points. For whatever reason, however, things reversed course in 2013. The gap rose to 30 percentage points in the House, the largest gap seen in either chamber since 2009.