112th–116th: pages +91%, laws +22%, substantive laws +12%
Source. Brookings Table 6-4; Pew Research Center (substantive laws estimated from Pew shares)
Method and data
Method. Substantive laws for the 113th are Pew’s count; for the 112th, Pew’s 212 less its stated four. For the 114th–116th they are Pew’s rounded share times Brookings’ law count, so they are estimates good to about two laws. The three series are shown separately and are not combined. The 112th is a low point (283 laws; 4,415 pages, 42% below the 111th’s 7,617), and laws rose 22% across the plotted window. Re-based on the 112th, the 118th is pages −1% and laws −3%; re-based on the 111th, the 116th is pages +11% and laws −10%.
| Congress | Public laws | Substantive laws | Pages | Laws (112th = 100) | Substantive laws (112th = 100) | Pages (112th = 100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 112 | 283 | 208 | 4,415 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 113 | 296 | 212 | 5,289 | 104.59 | 101.92 | 119.8 |
| 114 | 329 | 233.59 | 6,170 | 116.25 | 112.3 | 139.75 |
| 115 | 442 | 304.98 | 7,872 | 156.18 | 146.62 | 178.3 |
| 116 | 344 | 233.92 | 8,432 | 121.55 | 112.46 | 190.99 |
