Legislative Inefficiency: The More Things Change

In our 2004 report, we pointed to the huge number of bills introduced in each legislative chamber. Between 1997 and 2001, 45,420 bills were introduced in the full Assembly, or roughly 9,000 per year. In the Senate, it was 31,734 over those same five years, or about 6,000 per year. We noted at the time that "more bills were introduced in the New York State Legislature than in any other state."

Are things different in 2006? Not really. Capitol Confidental reports that 10,374 bills were introduced in the Assembly and 7,264 in the Senate in 2006, more than any of the years we covered in our original report.