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Standing committees in state legislatures during the 2011-2012 session

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June 13, 2011

By Justin Haas and Tyler King

In the 2011-2012 session, there are 2,079 standing committees in the 50 state legislatures, according to research by Ballotpedia writers.

In general, the primary responsibility of standing committees is to consider and refine legislative bills before they are sent to the chamber floor for consideration by all members.

A standing committee was determined as being any committee that appeared to be permanent in the state. Select and special committees -- such as a one-year study commission -- were not counted in this report.

The state with the most committees is Mississippi. It has 91 committees (43 Senate, 46 House, 2 joint)

The state with the fewest number of standing committees is Nevada. It has 21 committees. (11 Senate, 10 House)

By dividing up the number of committees by total legislators, we ranked the states based on the average number of committees that each legislator would serve on.

The states with the most average committees per legislator, meaning the legislator likely carries a large burden of committees to serve on, are:

  1. Kentucky: 8.01
  2. Mississippi: 7.26
  3. Delaware: 6.60

The states with the lowest average committees per legislator, meaning the legislator is likely responsible for fewer committees, are:

  1. New Hampshire: 1.18
  2. Alaska: 1.33
  3. Maine: 1.41

Some other unique facts from the committees in state legislatures in 2011:

  • In Connecticut, there are only joint committees. No legislators serve on chamber-specific committees. Instead, a total of 27 joint committees handle all committee work.
  • In Maine, although there are 153 total representatives, not every representative is on a House-specific committee. There are only 6 total House committees, and some legislators have been appointed to one, lone joint committee.

The table below displays the committee counts. Here is an explanation of the columns:

  • Ratio of legislators to committees: This figure is derived by dividing the total number of legislators in the state by the total number of committees.
  • Committees per legislator: This figure is derived by taking the total number of committees served -- meaning, the number of legislators on every committee in a state -- and dividing that figure by the number of legislators.

Breakdown of standing committees by average number of committees per legislator

Legend:
Highest
Legend:
Lowest
State Number of Committees Senators Representatives Total legislators Ratio of legislators to committees Total legislators on all committees Committees per legislator
Alabama 60 35 105 140 2.33 534 3.81
Alaska 27 20 40 60 2.22 197 1.33
Arizona 48 30 60 90 1.875 341 3.79
Arkansas 43 35 100 135 3.13 537 3.98
California 60 40 80 120 2 604 5.03
Colorado 26 35 65 100 3.84 246 2.46
Connecticut 27 36 151 187 6.92 600 3.21
Delaware 53 21 41 62 1.17 409 6.6
Florida 32 40 120 160 5 427 2.67
Georgia 67 56 180 236 3.52 1,074 4.55
Hawaii 34 25 51 76 2.24 329 4.33
Idaho 27 35 70 105 3.89 327 3.11
Illinois 78 59 118 177 2.27 1,050 5.93
Indiana 44 50 100 150 3.41 514 3.43
Iowa 37 50 100 150 4.05 601 4.01
Kansas 67 40 125 165 2.46 787 4.77
Kentucky 49 38 100 138 2.82 1,106 8.01
Louisiana 35 39 105 144 4.11 509 3.53
Maine 27 35 153 188 6.96 266 1.41
Maryland 32 47 141 188 5.88 426 2.27
Massachusetts 43 40 160 200 4.65 666 3.33
Michigan 39 38 110 148 3.79 414 2.8
Minnesota 37 67 134 201 5.43 568 2.83
Mississippi 91 52 122 174 1.91 1,263 7.26
Missouri 81 34 163 197 2.43 885 4.49
Montana 39 50 100 150 3.85 501 3.34
Nebraska 26 49 0 49 1.88 108 2.2
Nevada 21 21 42 63 3 212 3.37
New Hampshire 41 24 400 424 10.34 501 1.18
New Jersey 43 40 80 120 2.79 305 2.54
New Mexico 25 42 70 112 4.48 272 2.43
New York 70 62 150 212 3.03 1,155 5.45
North Carolina 37 50 120 170 4.59 997 5.86
North Dakota 23 47 94 141 6.13 250 1.77
Ohio 36 33 99 132 3.67 500 3.79
Oklahoma 34 48 101 149 4.38 520 3.49
Oregon 30 30 60 90 3 243 2.7
Pennsylvania 49 50 203 253 5.16 985 3.89
Rhode Island 24 38 75 113 4.71 255 2.26
South Carolina 26 46 124 170 6.54 390 2.29
South Dakota 27 35 70 105 3.89 257 2.45
Tennessee 38 33 99 132 3.47 392 2.97
Texas 55 31 150 181 3.29 507 2.8
Utah 27 29 75 104 3.85 238 2.29
Vermont 40 30 150 180 4.5 313 1.74
Virginia 25 40 100 140 5.6 484 3.46
Washington 43 49 98 147 3.42 505 3.44
West Virginia 41 34 100 134 3.27 754 5.63
Wisconsin 59 33 99 132 2.24 508 3.85
Wyoming 36 30 60 90 2.5 319 3.54
TOTAL 2079 1971 5413 7,384 3.55 26,151 3.54
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