Abstract
What happens to bills that do not become laws in a given Congress? Which of these bills are reintroduced in the next Congress, and why? Answering these questions
is increasingly important, as it becomes ever more difficult for a bill to advance through all legislative stages and become law. In this paper, we propose a theory of bill
reintroduction from a utility perspective. We posit that
MCs value both the extent and intensity of external support when making the reintroduction decisions. Specifically, we argue that MCs are more likely to reintroduce
bills with more cosponsors, especially those with early and committee-based support. We also contend that public and media attention can serve as additional signals of a
bill’s value. Using a text reuse approach, we identify reintroduced bills from 2003 to
2023, and we find strong support
for the idea that both elite and public cues shape strategic reintroduction decisions.