Effective Lawmakers – Center for Effective Lawmaking

Bipartisan Political Brands

Bipartisan Political Brands Can efforts to cultivate a bipartisan political brand meaningfully shape how lawmakers are perceived, or are such signals dismissed in an increasingly polarized political environment? In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, Faculty Affiliate Andrew J. Clarke, an associate professor of Government and Law at Lafayette College, and Christopher M. Byrnes, a Lafayette College alum, examine whether affiliation with the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus can influence perceptions of legislators’ ideology. Through a descriptive analysis of newly collected Problem Solvers Caucus membership data and a pre-registered…

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September 30, 2026

Policy Agendas, Effective Lawmaking, and Women’s Issues in State Legislatures

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Center Affiliates / Faculty Affiliates / Interest & Legislative Effectiveness Scores / Legislative Anaylsis / Legislative Research / Policy Scores / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Policy Agendas, Effective Lawmaking, and Women’s Issues in State Legislatures

Policy Agendas, Effective Lawmaking, and Women’s Issues in State Legislatures Tuesday, August 4, 2026 State legislatures introduce roughly 100,000 bills a year, far outpacing Congress, yet scholars have long lacked a reliable way to sort that volume into policy areas, making it hard to ask basic questions about which issues get attention, which stall, and who succeeds where. In this Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) working paper, the authors take on that challenge directly. It was written by Andrew M.O. Ballard, Associate Professor at Florida State University (and CEL Faculty…

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August 3, 2026

State Highlights / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 2023-2024 Kentucky Legislative Session, 94th Arkansas General Assembly, and the 59th Oklahoma Legislature Legislative Session State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 2023-2024 Kentucky Legislative Session, 94th Arkansas General Assembly, and the 59th Oklahoma Legislature Legislative Session 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 59th Oklahoma Legislature (2023-2024), the 2023-2024 Kentucky General Assembly, and the 94th Arkansas General Assembly (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…

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April 16, 2026

State Highlights / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 113th Tennessee General Assembly State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 113th Tennessee General Assembly 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 113th Tennessee General Assembly (2023-2024) legislative session. 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…

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April 9, 2026

State Highlights / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 68th North Dakota Legislative Assembly (2023-2024) and the 2023-2024 Rhode Island General Assembly Legislative Sessions State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 68th North Dakota Legislative Assembly (2023-2024) and the 2023-2024 Rhode Island General Assembly 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 68th North Dakota Legislative Assembly (2023-2024) and the 2023-2024 Rhode Island General Assembly 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…

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April 2, 2026

State Highlights / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 56th Arizona Legislature (2023-2024), the 2023-2024 Idaho Legislature, and the 2023-2024 Vermont Legislature Legislative Sessions State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 56th Arizona Legislature (2023-2024), the 2023-2024 Idaho Legislature, and the 2023-2024 Vermont 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 56th Arizona Legislature (2023-2024), the 2023-2024 Idaho Legislature, and the 2023-2024 Vermont Legislature 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…

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March 26, 2026

State Highlights / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 123rd Indiana General Assembly and the 102nd Michigan Legislature State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 123rd Indiana General Assembly and the 102nd Michigan Legislature 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 123rd Indiana General Assembly and the 102nd Michigan Legislature legislative sessions (2023–2024). 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,…

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March 19, 2026

State Highlights / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 74th Colorado General Assembly, the 2023-2024 Hawai‘i State Legislature, and the 152nd Delaware General Assembly State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 74th Colorado General Assembly, the 2023-2024 Hawai‘i State Legislature, and the 152nd Delaware General Assembly 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 74th Colorado General Assembly, the 2023-2024 Hawai‘i State legislative session, and the 152nd Delaware General Assembly. 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…

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March 12, 2026

State Highlights / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 90th Iowa General Assembly, the 2023-2024 Florida State Legislature, and the 2023-2024 Connecticut State Legislature State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 90th Iowa General Assembly, the 2023-2024 Florida State Legislature, and the 2023-2024 Connecticut State Legislature 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 90th Iowa General Assembly, the 2023-2024 Florida State legislative session, and the 2023-2024 Connecticut State legislative session. 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…

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March 5, 2026

State Highlights / State Legislative Effectiveness Scores / State Legislatures

Announcing the Release of the 2023-2024 Wisconsin State Legislatures State Legislative Effectiveness Scores (SLES)

Announcing the Release of the 2023-2024 Wisconsin State Legislatures 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 Wisconsin legislative session. 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…

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February 19, 2026