Report: Session characterized by thousands of bills, party-line votes
With Democrats taking control of the Senate from Republicans this year, at least for most of the session, there was a marked difference in the number of bills introduced and passed by the new majority.
Democratic senators introduced an average of 114 bills and got 13 of them passed, or 11 percent, and Republicans introduced 80 and passed six, or 7.5 percent, according to a new report by the New York Public Interest Research Group.
In the Assembly, where Democrats maintain a supermajority, Democrats sponsored an average of 66 bills and got 10 passed. Republicans introduced 41 bills on average and only were passed.
Here are some other findings in the NYPIRG report:
—The Assembly cast 1,275 votes on 1,242 bills and passed 785 resolutions this year. Members of the Assembly introduced 8,939 bills and 814 resolutions.
—The Senate cast 645 votes and passed 640 bills this year. Senators sponsored 6,428 bills and 2,887 resolutions (of which 2,778 were adopted).
—The number of bills that passed both houses dropped sharply compared to recent years because Senate business was on hold for weeks as Republicans and Democrats worked out a leadership fight. Both houses passed 554 bills, down from 811 in 2008, 847 in 2007 and 958 in 2006.
—The Senate passed more than 75 percent of its bill unanimously, and the average Assembly bill had 132 “yes” votes, 9 “no” votes and 8 absences or abstentions.
—Assembly Democrats voted along party lines 97.4 percent of the time, compared with 99.7 percent for Senate Democrats.
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My PRIMARY concern going into 2010 is that Greg Ball once again passed 0 legislation as he prepares to run for congress. Finding a Ball bill is like finding a needle in a HAY stack, for what its WORTH.
That is just plain pathetic. Ball is all smoke & mirrors – all hat and no cattle – sizzle and no steak, etc.
Maybe if he spent more time actually doing the job people elected him to do he would be more effective.
Hiding behind his minority Party status is no excuse for complete failure to pass legislation. Several other minority members, even those who came into the chamber AFTER Mr. Ball was elected in 2006, were able to pass at least a couple of bills.
So, what is it that Mr. Ball is going to ask the people of the 19th district to do come November 2010? Replace a hard-working, effective statesman with a do-nothing, ineffective firebrand??
FAT CHANCE!
do republicans want john hall to be in congress for another 2 years? because that’s exactly what will happen if you run a scumbag like greg ball. not only is ball waaaaaaay too conservative for that district, he also has a record of failure. not one bill passed. not being able to work with others. essentially, he’s had 3 years and he’s accomplished nothing. in private industry he would have been fired after 6 months. that’s probably why he’s never had a real job in his life…
republicans need to look past ball’s good looks and smooth words. they need to find a real leader, someone who has accomplished something with their life – in business or politics. someone who can raise the millions needed to oust an incumbent congressman (let’s face it, ball will lucky if he raises 500k. note to ball: in-kinds don’t count).
the reason ball announced so early is because he knows he’s among the weaker candidates for this seat. but he wants to cement himself as the candidate in the minds of gop leaders before they have a chance to look at anyone else.
message to gop insiders: reject ball’s notion that he is the only who can win because he can’t and he won’t.