'It's an abnormal number': Andy Biggs introduced the most bills by far in 2023. Here's why

In 2023 alone, during the first half of the 118th Congress, Rep. Andy Biggs introduced 590 bills, far more than any other member of Congress, according to the Library of Congress.

Because the legislation saw little to no congressional action, political experts suggested Biggs, R-Ariz., used the bills to “signal” to his base.

“It’s an abnormal number,” said Chad Westerland, a professor of political science at the University of Arizona. “Yet, it makes sense in the context of his electoral politics and what his goals are.”

On March 29, 2023, during debt ceiling negotiations between then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and President Joe Biden, Biggs introduced 519 pieces of legislation — 88% of the total amount he would introduce the whole year. He said the bills provided “more solutions to avoid raising the debt ceiling,” in a written statement.

“The proposed cuts target woke, weaponized and wasteful spending programs and counter hyperbolic calls by the Washington uni party to raise the debt ceiling,” Biggs' statement on the introduction of the bills said. The proposed cuts ranged from programs related to child nutrition, rural water, the Department of Education, food safety, inland oil spills and more.

Biggs did not respond to The Arizona Republic's request for comment.

The typical representative and senator introduced an average of 19 bills in 2023, according to data collected from the Library of Congress. And while there were some outliers alongside Biggs to that number, such as Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., with 191 bills and Cory Booker, D-N.J., with 96 bills, Biggs was tops in bill introduction.

Introducing bills for reasons other than solely passing legislation is not just a unique action to Biggs.

"Signaling to your constituents that you’re on their team is a tale as old as time for Congress,” Westerland said.

Out of the rest of Arizona's Capitol Hill delegation, no representative came close to the bill introduction numbers of Biggs. Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Democratic Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who both introduced 24 bills, significantly trailed Biggs, despite out-introducing the rest of their Arizona colleagues. However, Sinema introduced fewer pieces of legislation than the average senator. The average senator introduced 35 in the first half of the 118th Congress, while the average House member introduced 15.

Closely trailing Sinema and Grijalva, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., both introduced 23 bills in 2023. On the low end of Arizona's delegation bill introduction were Republican Reps. Paul Gosar and Eli Crane, who introduced nine bills and seven bills respectively.

Biggs has not previously engaged in the introduction of legislation to this scale before. In his preceding three congressional sessions, starting in 2017, he averaged only around 48 bills per session.

Oftentimes, more than 10,000 bills are introduced each congressional session, with only a couple hundred ever becoming law, said Betsy Palmer, a political science professor at UA and former longtime analyst for the Congressional Research Service, Congress' nonpartisan research arm.

“The vast majority of bills are introduced and then never heard from again,” she said.

Biggs relied on that for his own political purposes, Westerland argued.

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Many representatives in Congress introduce legislation that demonstrates to their constituents that they are taking action on issues that their bases — and the representative themself — care about, even if the likelihood the bill will become law, or even be recognized in a committee hearing, is minuscule.

“It’s a relatively low-cost thing to introduce, the kind of legislation that you know your constituents are 100% behind,” Westerland said. “You don’t really have to worry about whether or not it actually gets enacted.”

Representatives, such as Biggs, can blame the other side of the aisle or even their own party if, and when, the legislation doesn't see any action, Westerland said. Representatives can use the lack of success on the bills they introduce to say “reelect me so I can keep fighting the good fight.”

Furthering adding to the argument of Biggs’ signaling, Palmer questioned if his legislation would have been effective if it did pass, because of the mechanics of the debt ceiling. She called the effort “not necessarily in sync” with its goal.

“The debt ceiling is about, ‘Hey, two years ago, this is what the Defense Department did. And now we gotta pay for it,” Palmer said, explaining that cutting funding for future programs wouldn’t have lowered the debt ceiling because money was already spent.

Other reasons, such as the creation of strong legislative language and measuring public support, could also be reasons for Biggs’ mass introduction of legislation, Palmer said.

Possessing all of the legislative language of these bills will allow Biggs to have “the perfect amendment ready to go at any time,” Palmer said, because “he now has all the legislative language right at the tip of his fingers.”

Representatives also introduce bills in this way to gain an understanding of the public’s opinion. By putting out legislation, representatives can see what kind of support, reaction or opposition they receive from the public.

Reach reporter Morgan Fischer at morgan.fischer@gannett.com or on X, formally known as Twitter, @morgfisch.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rep. Andy Biggs introduced the most bills in Congress in 2023