NASHVILLE — Hamilton County lawmakers had mixed success in getting their legislative proposals passed into law during the 105th General Assembly, legislative records show.

Among local lawmakers, Sen. Bo Watson, D-Hixson, had the highest number of bills — 20 of the 46 he sponsored — pass the House and Senate and enter Tennessee statute books, according to data obtained from the General Assembly’s official Web site.

Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, and Rep. Tommie Brown, D-Chattanooga, tied for second. Ten of the 15 bills Rep. Favors sponsored over the two-year 105th General Assembly became law. Ten of Rep. Brown’s 38 bills passed.

In terms of percentage of bills, Rep. Favors did the best — 66.6 percent of her bills passed while Sen. Watson had a 43.4 percent rate. Rep. Brown’s success rate was 26.3 percent.

Freshman Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City, a Rhea County lawmaker whose district includes parts of north Hamilton County, ranked last among the eight Hamilton County delegation members in actual bills passed as well as percentage of bills passed.

Two of 12 bills he sponsored — 16.6 percent — were enacted.

Another freshman lawmaker, Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, got three of 11 bills he sponsored passed, a 27.2 percent rate. Several of his anti-smoking bills were stamped out by the House Agriculture Committee.

Only bills where a member was listed as the primary sponsor and which went to the governor were included in comparisons. Legislative resolutions, some of which are controversial and many others congratulatory in nature, were not included.

According to the General Assembly’s Web site, in all, 99 House members introduced 4,274 bills while 33 senators introduced 4,280. Almost all bills in either chamber had a House counterpart or they did not pass. According to the General Assembly Web site, 1,204 bills became statutes, about 28 percent.

WORKING THE SYSTEM

Sen. Watson, a freshman senator who served a previous term in the House, said passing legislation can be “difficult.”

“I just don’t introduce legislation with every idea that is presented to me,” said Sen. Watson, whose successes this year include a law providing new standards for certain office-based medical surgeries. “I try to be deliberative in the legislation I introduce.”

Now finishing her second House term, Rep. Favors, a registered nurse and former health care administrator, attributed her success to hard work, previous experience as a Hamilton County commissioner and some familiarity with the legislature through advocacy on health care issues.

“I’m there late at night and do a tremendous amount of studying,” said Rep. Favors, who passed the House version of the office surgery bill as well as a Bredesen administration measure cracking down on unfair insurance practices.

She said she spent most of her first year in 2005 “really trying to form some alliances and meeting people and just sort of learning who I needed to establish contact with.”

Rep. Cobb said some of his bills “might have been a little ambitious.”

For example, the lawmaker said, legislation he carried that required public high schools to teach Tennessee history got stuck with a whopping $15.4 million price tag, the amount needed to hire 324 teachers and fund their salary and benefits.

“I addressed all the committee members, and they told me we’ve got to get around the cost,” Rep. Cobb said.

Records show Rep. Cobb got a local bill passed that permitted Dayton officials to decide whether to enact special elections for vacant council positions, provide pay for council members and implement a citywide election for the town’s mayor. The other bill named a portion of U.S. Highway 11 in Loudon County.

LEGISLATIVE EFFECTIVENESS

Bobby Wood, a former Republican House member from Harrison, said some bills are harder to get passed than others.

“Usually, like the changing of the name of a road or things of that nature in a representative’s or a senator’s district, the body usually goes along with that,” he said.

The ability to get legislation passed is a “big factor” in looking at a lawmaker’s effectiveness, Mr. Wood said.

But citing his own experience, the former legislator also noted that leaders of the Democratic-controlled House have been known to borrow ideas from Republican bills and insert them in a Democrat’s bill. Senate Democrats these days sometimes make the same complaint.

Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, who came to the General Assembly in 2008 after winning a 2007 special election, got four of 22 bills passed. He ran into resistance on several of his more ambitious proposals including one that would have required 90 percent of state school funding to go directly into the classroom.

“Anytime you seek to make large changes, you’re going to see resistance from people,” Sen. Berke said shortly after the session ended. “And so you have to spend time educating people and pushing your plan.”

Information compiled by Tennessee Legislative Services, operated by the private firm M. Lee Smith Publishers, shows three House members outside Chattanooga gat no bills passed at all. Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, introduced 75 bills in the 105th General Assembly, but none passed.

His proposals included requiring a woman under certain circumstances to view an ultrasound image of her fetus before obtaining an abortion.

Tennessee Legislative Services figures show that Sen. Thelma Harper, D-Nashville, ranked No. 1 in getting legislation passed — 158 bills. Sen. Harper is chairwoman of a committee and handles legislation that extends the life of dozens of state agencies. She sponsored 318 bills, getting 49.6 percent passed.

Various other House and Senate committee chairmen get high numbers of bills passed.

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