Announcing the Release of the State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)
The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is proud to announce the release of our State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) — a groundbreaking effort to measure the lawmaking effectiveness of individual legislators in all 99 state legislative chambers in the United States over recent decades. These scores capture the lawmaking effectiveness of the members of each legislature based on the number of bills they sponsor, how far those bills progress through the different stages of the legislative process, and the substantive significance of those proposals.
Our initial public data release and analyses focus on the states of Montana and Georgia, and we plan to expand our data availability and analyses to all fifty states in the months ahead.
Highlights from our latest reports include:
- Top Performers: We identify the top 10 most effective lawmakers from each party in both the State House and Senate, including many who have consistently demonstrated high levels of lawmaking effectiveness across multiple legislative sessions.
- Exceeds Expectations: We spotlight legislators with the longest-running streaks of earning our prestigious “Exceeds Expectations” in lawmaking effectiveness designation, as well as first-term legislators who have immediately distinguished themselves in their lawmaking effectiveness, compared to their peers.
- Majority Party Advantage: Consistent with our published research, legislators from the majority party tend to be more effective lawmakers, reflecting both structural advantages and differences in legislative strategy.
- Montana Insights (2023–2024): Most highly effective lawmakers were returning legislators, though several first-time legislators also emerged as highly effective lawmakers.
- Georgia Insights (2023–2024): Serving as a committee chair correlates with greater legislative success, and many of the highest-scoring legislators have demonstrated sustained lawmaking effectiveness across consecutive General Assemblies.
You can explore the full reports and detailed findings below:
