A Look into Committee Bill Referrals: the Ups and Downs

This week in the Massachusetts Legislature, dockets were given bill numbers and referred to the various committees, based on subject matter. The referral of bills to committees is done every session with the intent of sending bills to committees that have jurisdiction over their domain, for public input, with the goal of providing any necessary and meaningful changes. Along with these changes, committees have “report out” legislation, as favorably or unfavorably, for the bills to proceed in the legislative process. Committees can pass an “unfavorable report” which typically means a piece of legislation will not be discussed or voted on further for that session. Most bills are accompanied by a ‘study order,’ meaning the committee was unable or unwilling to make a decision, and the bill is effectively dead. Usually, by this time in the session, bills have already been referred to committees, meaning that the legislature is much more behind than usual.

To better understand these referrals, we will be breaking down the bills referred to various committees, focusing primarily on the joint committees. This is done in an effort to compare committees and the number of bills they receive to each other. Along with the committee comparison, it is important to examine the number of bills each committee receives from session to session to see if there is any meaningful difference. Finally, a look at the reporting out rates for committees can lend insight into the legislative process.

Current Committees

An almost universal trend was a decrease in the number of bills referred to committees this session compared to the previous session. Last session averaged 272 bills referred to committee, this session only saw an average of 202 bills, a 70 bill decrease. This could be due, in part, to the fact that there was also a decrease of bills filed overall from last session. Evidently, nearly every joint committee saw a decrease, with the exception of the Joint Committee on Financial Services that had an increase of 27 (for a total of 369) and the Joint Committee on Elder Services that saw 7 more bills (for a total of 85).t. 

There were, on the other hand, significant decreases for other committees. Three committees saw a decrease of over 200 bills referred. The largest dip was for the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing that dropped from almost 500 to 178 bills. This change is misleading, however, as bills go to other committees before being sent to the Health Care Financing Committee. Their reporting deadline is also later than others. The Joint Committee on Public Service had the second largest decrease, with 210 fewer bills bringing them to a total of 425 bills for this session. The Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Governments also saw a decrease of over 200 with a total of 155 bills for the 2024 session. This could be explained, in part, by Home Rule Petitions first being dealt with in municipalities and subsequently filed at a later date. 

While there is a significant trend in fewer bills referred, other committee trends have not changed from previous sessions. The Joint Committee on Judiciary consistently has the highest number of referrals. Though it decreased from the 800 in the previous session, this committee still leads with 696 bills referred this cycle. The committee focuses, as the name suggests, on all judicial matters, including criminal sentencing and records, judicial salaries, and all other pertinent information. These bills constitute a large portion of the bills historically filed each session, and therefore, it follows that the committee has such a high volume. 

As mentioned previously, one of the most important jobs a committee has is reporting bills out as favorably or unfavorably, which determines whether or not a bill continues in the legislative process to becoming a law. Oddly enough, despite the high quantity, the Joint Committee on Judiciary has, by far, the lowest reporting out rate with only 18.3% last session. For reference, the average last session was 52.9%. This committee, alongside the Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity (23.5% report out rate) are the only committees with a referral rate of under 25%. This could be due to various reasons, one of them being the sheer number of bills referred to this committee every session likely makes it difficult to direct enough time towards all of the bills. The Judiciary Committee also deals with the more controversial bills surrounding criminal justice, prisons, and civil rights which usually aren’t tackled unless a priority for the legislature. Evidently, the majority of bills assigned to this committee are assigned an accompanying study order, usually resulting in no further committee action. 

New Committees

Along with the current long standing joint committees, there are also a few new committees this session. What was known as the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture last session has now been split into the Joint Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources and the Joint Committee on Agriculture. This was done to demonstrate the increasing importance of various domains of agricultural concerns, and an increased commitment to the agricultural industry in Massachusetts. Now, bills involving pollution and climate change fall under the Environment and  Natural Resources Committee and bills involving agricultural and farming fall under the Agriculture Committee. For more information on this topic, check out our previous blog post involving ​​2023-2024 legislative cycle committee changes.

The Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources had 334 bills referred to it this session, while the Joint Committee on Agriculture received only 24 bills. This is the second lowest amount, only beating the Joint Committee on Emergency Preparedness and Management (with the low of 11 bills). This number is certainly low, being well under the 25th percentile of 81 bills referred. It is especially modest in comparison to last session. Previously, the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture had 362 bills referred to it with 191 of them reported out. This means that 52.8% of the bills reported to the committee were reported out to other chambers, roughly the average rate for committees last session. This low number has not shown the explicit need for a new committee, though it is still in its infancy.

Analyzing these various statistics is important in obtaining a full understanding of all the details behind committee referrals, and the critical committee process. While these small details may not seem important, they are the backbone to the functioning of the legislature. Staying on top of all 55 legislative committees may seem overwhelming, but with advance notice of committee hearings, and transcripts and video of every hearing, InstaTrac makes it easy! Never miss a blog post - and stay on top of what’s happening on Beacon Hill! Follow us on Twitter, Linkedin, Youtube, or Instagram.