Announcing the Release of the 2023-2024 North Carolina General Assembly and the 56th New Mexico Legislature Legislative Sessions State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)
The Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) is proud to announce the release of our State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES) for the 2023-2024 North Carolina General Assembly and the 56th New Mexico Legislature (2023-2024) legislative sessions. This initiative is part of our broader effort to measure the lawmaking effectiveness of individual legislators in all 99 state legislative chambers in the United States.
These scores capture lawmaking effectiveness by tracking the number of bills legislators sponsor, how far those bills advance through the legislative process, and the substantive significance of the proposals.
With the release of North Carolina and New Mexico our state-level data initiative continues to grow—building on earlier reports from Montana and Georgia. Additional states will be added in the coming months as we work toward full national coverage.
Highlights from the North Carolina and New Mexico SLES (2023–2024)
- Top Performers: We identify the top 10 and top 5 most effective lawmakers across both parties and chambers in both states, including legislators who have consistently ranked as highly effective lawmakers across multiple legislative sessions.
- Above Expectations: We highlight legislators who earned our prestigious Above Expectations designation for lawmaking effectiveness, including both experienced legislators with sustained records and first-term lawmakers who quickly distinguished themselves among their peers.
- Majority Party Advantage: Consistent with CEL research, majority-party legislators were generally more effective lawmakers, reflecting structural advantages such as agenda-setting power and committee leadership.
- North Carolina Findings: In terms of broader patterns, although there is a majority-party advantage in most states, this advantage is especially notable in the North Carolina General Assembly. While the SLES of minority-party lawmakers across the country on the whole averages about 0.6, the average scores for minority-party Democrats in North Carolina are about half of that for 2023-24, sitting at 0.32 in the House of Representatives and 0.25 in the Senate. These differences translate into a wide gap in the number of laws produced by Democrats relative to Republicans. Of the 205 laws produced in the 2023-2024 term, only 4 of them were sponsored by Democrats. Given that Democrats held more than a third of the seats in each chamber, as well as controlling the governorship, this 50:1 ratio in laws coming from Republicans to those coming from Democrats is significantly out of proportion with the relative seat-shares, and well beyond what is seen in most states across the country.
- New Mexico Findings: In terms of broader patterns, consistent with a majority-party advantage in most states, this pattern is clearly on display in New Mexico. While the SLES of minority-party lawmakers across the country on the whole averages about 0.6, the average scores for minority-party Republicans in New Mexico are a bit lower than that in the House of Representatives at 0.57 and lower still in the Senate at a value of 0.46. These differences translate into a gap in the number of laws produced by Republicans relative to Democrats. Of the 276 laws produced in the 2023-24 term, only 41 of them were sponsored by Republicans. Given that Republicans held more than a third of the seats in each chamber, this nearly 6:1 ratio in laws coming from Democrats to those coming from Republicans is notably out of proportion with the relative seat-shares, but not uncommon compared to recent legislative terms in New Mexico nor to partisan patterns found across the country.
You can explore the full report and detailed findings below:
