Getting what you pay for: Resource allocations and legislative success
Thursday, May 29, 2025
Members of Congress run for office with a variety of goals they hope to achieve if elected. How members go about achieving these goals is constrained by numerous institutional factors. Yet there exist two areas in which members are afforded broad discretion: the allocation of their time and budget. In this published paper in Legislative Studies Quarterly, Emily Cottle Ommundsen, Assistant Professor at the University of Mississippi (and Center for Effective Lawmaking Faculty Affiliate), assesses the personal qualities and institutional circumstances that motivate members’ budgetary decisions and evaluates the consequences of such choices. She finds that members who spend a greater proportion of their budget are more effective lawmakers than those who do not spend their full budgets. Further, she demonstrates that members who invest more in legislative staff have the highest rates of legislative productivity. Members make strategic choices in how they divide their budget. This paper demonstrates that investing in skilled staff is a wise strategy for members desiring legislative success.
To learn more, read the full paper here.
