Assessing the Effects of Multiple Referrals in the U.S. House: 1975- 2020

• In Event: Committee Dynamics in the U.S.

Abstract

In the 1970s, the House of Representatives implemented a series of procedural reforms. One such reform changed committee referral procedures, granting the Speaker the authority to refer bills to multiple committees. Some contend multiple referral fostered cross-committee cooperation, while others claim it strengthened the influence of the Speaker over the legislative process. I analyze final passage votes in the House from the 94th to the 106th Congresses to evaluate how multiple referrals affected policy outcomes. I find that the spatial location of roll-call cut points did not vary by referral type, but that multiply-referred bills attracted significantly smaller coalitions of support. These findings suggest multiple referrals helped build support for increasingly complex pieces of legislation from the party’s agenda.

Authors

• Timothy P. Nokken, Texas Tech University

• Neil Chaturvedi, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona