Fate of Legislation - 2024

Only 46% of the 2,390 total bills introduced in the 2024 Virginia General Assembly session actually became law. This graphic breaks that number down a bit, offering a window into the lawmaking process.

Helpful background:

• "Carried Over": bills that "carry over" are considered again in next year's session
• "Consolidated": bills that were consolidated were incoporated into other, similar bills
• Recorded vote, or the lack of one: the official roll call of who voted for and against the measure on the floor of either chamber, in committee, or in subcommittee. Not all votes are recorded: for instance, informal voice votes just record the outcome and not individual votes.

Discussion prompts might include:

• When a bill is killed, there isn't always a public record of who voted for or against it. How common is that, and why might that be?
• In 2017, there was a very high number of bills killed without a recorded vote. Why might that be?
• Among the recorded votes for bills that passed, votes tend to be either to be unanimous or to have a lot of opposition (over 40% against). Having just a few lawmakers voting in the minority is rare. Why might that be?
• Which political party had more success getting their bills passed in 2024, and why?