Table 5. Cost of a government bill in the United States,^a 2008–2009.

Cost breakdown	Cost (US$)
Judicial and legal component of administration costsa,b	20 442 and 128 000
Bills enactedc during regular legislative sessions in 2008–2009,20 no.	20 516
Bills enactedc during special legislative sessions in 2008–2009,20 no.	353
Total bills enacted in 2008–2009, no.	20 869
Average number of bills enacted per state in 2008–2009, no.	417
Cost per bill, US$	979 545

US$, United States dollars.

^a Costs were derived using the most recent data from 50 state governments in the United States, which were for the fiscal period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009.²¹

^b Neither the cost of maintaining state government buildings nor the cost of the financial administration of the state government were taken into account.

^c A large proportion of state government bills are introduced but not enacted (e.g. 82% in 2009).²⁰