Commonwealth Report Legislators Method

House · Democrat

Ellen Story

Former member, served 2015–2016 in the sessions covered here · 3rd Hampshire

Data through FY2026; built October 19, 2026.

Residence

Amherst

First elected

House 1991 (special)

Prior public offices

Amherst Town Meeting Member; Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committee

Occupation

Legislator

Left office

did not seek reelection in 2016 (not a candidate in the 2016 primary or general election for this seat); term ended January 4, 2017

Seats held, General Courts 189–194 (the FY2017–FY2026 budgets)
SessionChamberDistrictLinesNote
189th (2015–16)House3rd Hampshire2011 lines

Posts and stipends

No stipend payments to Ellen Story are recorded for 2016–2026.

Posts and stipends by session (stipends by calendar year)
SessionPostsFirst yearSecond year
189th (2015–16)4th Division Chairnot availablenot available

Posts: the Legislature’s leadership and roster records as compiled for this project; where those name no post, the member’s committee chair, vice-chair and ranking roles from the Legislature’s member profiles. Stipends: additional compensation in the Comptroller’s payroll data (CTHRU dataset 9ttk-7vz6), 2016–2026; 2026 is the year to date. Stipends for 2015 are not available. Base salary is not included.

The district

3rd Hampshire on its 2011 lines: 3 cities and towns, 43,766 residents (2020).

Amherst · Granby · Pelham

Percentages are each place’s share of the district’s 2020 residents; for a town split between districts, the share of the town inside this one follows.

Population-weighted Fairness Index of the district’s cities and towns: 37 for all state aid and 65 for discretionary money (50 is a fair share).

Local earmarks are counted three ways. District money uses the first, clauses that name a place in the district; the second table adds organizations located in the district (placed in the district) and state facilities located there (everything placed). Three ways to count a local earmark.

District money, first measure: enacted earmarks in clauses naming a place in the district, by session (district money, not the member’s)
SessionDistrictDollarsIn corrective clausesPer resident per budget, rankWithout corrective clauses, rank
189th (2015–16)3rd Hampshire$393,000$0$8.99 · 10th of 160$8.99 · 10th of 160

District money is where enacted earmarks land, by the place a clause names, mapped to districts by 2020 population; it is not attributed to the member and does not include leadership’s base-text money that names no place. Ranks are of district money per resident among the chamber’s districts, 1 = most. “In corrective clauses” is the part carried by a Ways and Means chair’s corrective amendments, which is leadership’s money; the last column gives the per-resident figure and rank without it. Sessions are labeled by the General Court that enacted each budget. Per-resident figures use the district as drawn for each session (2011 lines through the 192nd General Court, 2021 lines from the 193rd), so they will not equal a session’s dollars divided by the resident count above.

The same district on the other two measures, by session (enacted; includes any corrective-clause money)
SessionDistrictPlaced in the districtPer resident per budget, rankEverything placedPer resident per budget, rank
189th (2015–16)3rd Hampshire$388,000$8.88 · 18th of 160$513,000$11.73 · 13th of 160

Budget amendments

Ellen Story sponsored six budget amendments in FY2017–FY2026, asking for $1.5 million in all.

Amendments sponsored

6

FY2017–FY2026 budgets

Adopted, known outcomes

100%

2 of 2

Chamber rate, same ask sizes

60%

expected at the chamber’s rates

Of the two with a known outcome, two were adopted (100%). At the chamber’s adoption rate for amendments of the same size, about one (60%) would have been.

Largest enacted items matched to an amendment Ellen Story filed (strong text matches)
YearAmountEnacted budget text (excerpt)Amendment
FY2017$100,000“Treehouse Foundation of Easthampton for planning to replicate the Intergenerational Treehouse Community model in the metrowest region”H4200 #198

Strong matches: 1 enacted item, $100,000 (the member’s share where several amendments claim one clause). A further one weaker text match is not listed; attribution is inferred from amendment text and is less certain there. House attribution is inferred throughout, because the House adopts most amendments inside consolidated amendments.

2 outcomes are inferred by matching amendment text to the House’s consolidated amendments, because the House records most amendments only as “Consolidated A–G.” Ask size is the larger of the earmark dollars and the line-item change an amendment requests; bands: no dollar amount, under $50,000, $50,000–$250,000, $250,000–$1 million, $1–5 million, $5 million or more. Leadership’s unattributed base-text and corrective-amendment money is never assigned to a member. The comparison describes outcomes; it is not a measure of merit.

Bills sponsored

Ellen Story filed 22 bills as lead sponsor in these sessions; three were enacted on their own. In completed sessions, 14% of their lead bills were enacted on their own, against a chamber median of 6% for the same sessions.

Most bills die in every legislature, and many policies pass inside other bills; the chamber median for the same session is the fair comparison.

Bills filed as lead sponsor, by session and outcome
SessionChamberLead billsEnactedSent to studyReported favorably, then diedNo actionEnacted rateChamber medianCosponsored
189th (2015–16)House22396414%6%193

Enacted bills as lead sponsor

Outcomes are the furthest point each bill reached in the record. “Folded into an enacted bill” means the history names the enacted bill that absorbed it. “Passed both branches; no chapter recorded” means the bill was enacted by both branches and laid before the Governor, with no chapter or veto in the history; in the 194th General Court such bills are shown as laid before the Governor (pending). The 194th General Court is in session until January 2027, so its open bills are pending, not dead, and its rates (*) are not comparable with completed sessions. Chairs and leaders control the calendar, which raises their rates. Source: malegislature.gov bill histories.

Recorded votes on accountability measures

No recorded votes for Ellen Story on the accountability measures in this file.

The file covers selected roll calls on the Legislature’s own rules, audits, public records, term limits and pay, 2017–2026.

Campaign money in

Ellen Story’s committee reported $1,500 in contributions of $250 or more in years the member served, 2015–2016.

By year (years in the Legislature)
YearContributions
2015$1,000
2016$500
By kind of contributor
KindTotalShare
Political committees and PACs$1,00067%
Unions and associations$50033%
Individuals’ money by the employer they reported
Employer reportedShare

Not counted as contributions: $11,000 in other receipts of $250 or more in the same years (candidate loans and the candidate’s own money, transfers, refunds, bank interest and aggregated small receipts).

The same committee also reported $0 in years the member was not in the Legislature (2017), for example while running for another office. Those receipts are not in the totals above.

Largest employers and organizations
Employer or organizationKindTotalContributions
MA & NORTHERN NE LABORERS' DISTRICT COUNCIL POL ACTION COMMcommittee or PAC$5001
STATE POLICE ASSOC OF MASS POL ACTION COMMcommittee or PAC$5001
32BJ UNITED ADFunion or association$5001

Source: Office of Campaign and Political Finance, itemized receipts of $250 or more since 2015; OCPF filer record: Story Committee (CPF 12135). Individuals are grouped by the employer they reported; no individual contributor is named, and an employer field that is a person’s name is withheld. Massachusetts bars business contributions to candidates. Employer shows affiliation, not instruction.

Sources

Every figure traces to a public record.

Facts only: posts, stipends, sponsored amendments, enacted items, roll-call votes and district money. No score or grade is computed. Associations shown here are not evidence of cause. Method.