Quorum's 2024 State Trends Report Reveals Uptick in State Legislative Activity

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Aug 05, 2024, 09:00 ET

As Congress continues slow pace, state legislatures tackle key issues from AI and inflation to mental health and gun control

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Quorum, a market leader in public affairs software, has released its 2024 State Trends Report. Quorum's analysis reveals that state legislatures are increasingly active compared to Congress, with a growing number of bills introduced on key issues like artificial intelligence (AI), inflation, mental health and gun rights.

Learn more about Quorum's State Trends Report at quorum.us.

Because the second year of a legislative session typically sees fewer bills than the first, Quorum compared 2024 against other recent second years. According to its data, state legislatures introduced 76,756 bills in the first half of 2024, a 1.4% increase from 2022. Meanwhile, Congress introduced just 3,189 bills and enacted only four of those bills (0.1%) during the same period. Although the uptick in state activity might not sound substantial, it translates to a significantly heavier workload. States introduced an average of 1,599 bills each so far this year, pressuring short-staffed lawmakers and public affairs professionals working across multiple states and regions.

"As Congress continues its historically slow pace ahead of the election, state legislatures have ramped up activity across key policy priorities," said Alex Wirth, CEO and co-founder of Quorum. "This increased state legislative activity has placed a significant strain on public affairs professionals, many of whom are already tasked with tracking and analyzing legislation across multiple states. The rapid pace of AI innovation provides new opportunities to navigate this increase in legislation and prepare for new state legislatures in 2025."

While Congress has slowed down during this election year, state legislatures have continued to advance bills on a wide range of issues.

AI: Legislators in 45 states have introduced 446 bills addressing AI's use in various applications, from education to government work, enacting 69 of them. New York and California led in the first half of 2024 with 38 and 36 introduced bills, respectively.
Inflation: With price increases dominating the national conversation, state lawmakers swiftly introduced 1,070 inflation-related bills and enacted 145 in the first half of 2024.
Gun rights: Despite the 2022 passage of the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, most gun regulation remains under state jurisdiction, leading to a patchwork of laws across the country. So far this year, 1,943 gun-related bills have been introduced, with 250 enacted. Roughly 53% of gun-related bills were introduced by Democrats, covering issues ranging from firearms on school property to purchasing age restrictions.
Mental health: According to Mental Health America, 23% of adults or nearly 60 million Americans, have experienced a mental illness in the past year. Reflecting mental health's growing importance in national conversations on topics like gun control or social media, state lawmakers introduced 5,280 mental health bills, enacting 859, in the first half of 2024.

Additionally, Quorum identified several specific trends, highlighting increases and decreases in legislation, social media activity, and more in various individual states.

Legislative activity slows down in Florida: Florida experienced the most significant reduction in introduced bills, with 50.8% fewer bills introduced in 2024 than in 2022, amounting to 1,801 fewer net bills — the largest decline of any state. Special sessions could be a significant contributing factor, as the Florida legislature typically meets for only 60 days annually. In 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis called for three special sessions, but in 2023 and 2024, none were held, possibly due to DeSantis's declining presidential prospects.
Five states enact less than 1% of bills: Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri and New York each enacted less than 1% of the bills introduced in the first half of 2024. Notably, Minnesota passed only 0.37% of its bills, with just 41 being enacted out of 10,947 introduced or carried over into the 2024 legislative session.
Pennsylvania lawmakers take top spot for social media activity: After coming in third place behind New York and New Hampshire last year, Pennsylvania lawmakers took the top spot for the total number of posts published on social media in the first half of 2024. However, when considering posts per official, Arizona led the way with 448 posts per lawmaker, with Rep. David Livingston (R-AZ-028) accounting for 11,485 of the state's 39,970 posts — nearly 29%.

To help public affairs teams navigate this increasingly complex state policy landscape, Quorum offers tools to track legislation, monitor lawmaker dialogue, access accurate contact data and build relationships with key stakeholders. To learn more about Quorum's state legislative tracking solution, visit quorum.us/state.

Methodology
This report covers legislative activity and dialogue from January 1 to June 30, 2024, collected and analyzed using Quorum State. The number of bills mentioned excludes simple and concurrent resolutions. Additionally, X (formerly Twitter) dialogue includes posts from official legislative and campaign accounts.

About Quorum
Quorum is public affairs software that helps users get information and execute strategy, all in one place. Thousands of public affairs professionals use Quorum for their work in Congress, all 50 state legislatures, major U.S. cities, the European Union, and several additional countries. Quorum works with corporations, trade associations, and nonprofits such as Toyota, Walmart, Uber, the Sierra Club, the Alzheimer's Association, and the Air Force. Founded in 2014, Quorum is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with an international office in Brussels.

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SOURCE Quorum