A new analysis by Roboro AI highlights the concentration of legislative effectiveness in the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) this year. According to the findings, a small group of lawmakers were responsible for sponsoring the majority of bills that ultimately became law in 2025.
At the time of their analysis, there were 89 session laws and eight resolutions, adding up to a total of 97 ratified bills at that point in the 2025 legislative session.
How the Analysis Was Conducted
Roboro, which specializes in legislative data insights, reviewed all bills introduced this session, identifying their primary sponsors and tracking outcomes. The analysis shows that while many legislators filed bills, only a handful consistently saw their legislation passed.
In the House, 13 members sponsored more than half of the 57 bills that passed, with just five representatives accounting for nearly a third of the bills that became law. In the Senate, nine senators sponsored three-quarters of the 32 bills that became law, and five of them accounted for more than half of the chamber’s legislative output.
A handful of members accounted for most laws
Roboro’s analysis of the 2025 NCGA session shows that just five members in each chamber collectively sponsored the majority of successful bills.
House (57 bills passed, 2 resolutions)
Senate (32 bills passed, 6 resolutions)
The company’s research focused not only on the volume of bills introduced, but also on passage rates.
“We pulled all the bills that had been introduced, who the primary sponsors were, and what happened to those bills. Then we calculated the percentage of bills passed,” explained Paul Rava, Roboro’s co-founder and CEO, to CJ.
Rep. Chesser leads in legislative success
The data shows that Rep. Allen Chesser, R-Nash, has had the highest percentage of his sponsored bills enacted so far this session, with three out of nine (33%) passing. When asked about what makes a legislator effective, Chesser pointed to relationships.
“Other members [of the General Assembly] need to know you’re not acting for personal motives,” Chesser said, in an interview with the Carolina Journal. “When they trust your intent and know you’re working for good policy, they’re more willing to work with you.”
He added that collaboration depends on mutual respect.
“Even when Democrats disagree with my bills, they’ll often say they appreciated the conversation,” he told CJ. “We may not see eye to eye on the goal, but we’re not impugning motives.”
He emphasized the importance of respectful disagreements.
“I refuse to call my political opponents enemies. I’ve been to war — I know what real enemies look like. This is not that,” Chesser said. “If you start from a place of mutual respect, where you believe the other person genuinely wants what’s best for their constituents, you get a lot less animosity.”
Bringing clarity to a complex process
“Things move so quickly in the legislature, and the complexity has increased over time,” said Jenny Bo, Roboro’s co-founder and president, in an interview with CJ. “We saw this as an opportunity to make it easier for people to understand and be proactive.”
Chesser echoed that lawmaking is not as straightforward as it may appear.
“It’s not as simple as it looks on TV,” he said. “There’s a misconception that good ideas pass just because they’re good, or that presenting them to the right person is enough. That’s not true. You have to work in this building to get things done.”
He also argued that restraint is part of effectiveness.
“Killing bad bills is more important than passing good ones,” he said. “Sometimes doing less is better.”
Unexpected Results
Observers have noted that the results were not always what they expected.
“When we’ve shared this data with people, one thing that always comes up is how unexpected some of the results are,” Bo said. “That’s exactly the intent — to create awareness and help groups make informed decisions.”
Roboro says its goal is to provide “institutional analysis” that builds transparency in lawmaking and helps the public and organizations better track legislative momentum.
“To have these legislative insights compounds transparency,” Rava said.
The legislature, currently in recess, briefly returned this week to take up several bills. Lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene in the spring of 2026 for the General Assembly’s regular short session.