Sen. Michael Bennet’s 2014 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Colorado
Democrat
Serving Jan 22, 2009 – Jan 3, 2029
These statistics cover Bennet’s record during the 113th Congress (Jan 3, 2013-Jan 2, 2015) and compare him to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 12, 2015. Although Rep. Suzan DelBene [D-WA1], Rep. Thomas Massie [R-KY4], Rep. Donald Payne [D-NJ10], and Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI] served in the 112th Congress, they took office within the last two months of the 112th Congress and here are grouped with other freshmen for the 113th Congress.
A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Bennet’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.
Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.
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Got bicameral support on the 5th fewest bills compared to Senate DemocratsThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 1103: LNG Excise Tax Equalization Act …; S. 1441: Water and Agriculture Tax Reform … Compare to all Senate Democrats (8th percentile); All Senators (11th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Ranked the 8th bottom/follower compared to Senate DemocratsOur unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 113th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Bennet’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Democrats (13th percentile); All Senators (16th percentile). |
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Got the 9th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Senate DemocratsBennet’s bills and resolutions had 84 cosponsors in the 113th Congress. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (15th percentile); All Senators (18th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 9th least often compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 6 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Bennet introduced 2 bills in the 113th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 841: Hermosa Creek Watershed Protection Act …; S. 1611: Federal Data Center Consolidation Act … Compare to all Senate Democrats (15th percentile); All Senators (29th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedBennet introduced 0 bills that became law in the 113th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all Senate Democrats (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). A bill or joint resolution is considered enacted if it or an exactly identical bill to it is enacted as law. We only consider bills that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Bills IntroducedBennet introduced 34 bills and resolutions in the 113th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (36th percentile); All Senators (53rd percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors6 of Bennet’s bills and resolutions in the 113th Congress had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward. Those bills were: S. 524: Pike National Historic Trail Study …; S. 957: Drug Supply Chain Security Act; S. 1010: Commission on Effective Regulation and …; S. 1052: GREAT Teachers and Principals Act; S. 1611: Federal Data Center Consolidation Act …; S. 2691: Pay for Performance Act Compare to all Senate Democrats (57th percentile); All Senators (67th percentile). |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsBennet tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 32% of Bennet’s 34 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 113th Congress. Compare to all Senate Democrats (41st percentile); All Senators (52nd percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsBennet held a leadership position on 0 committees and 2 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Bennet’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Democrats (25th percentile); All Senators (19th percentile). |
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Bills CosponsoredBennet cosponsored 195 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (30th percentile); All Senators (34th percentile). |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 195 bills that Bennet cosponsored, 21% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (60th percentile); All Senators (33rd percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Ideology ScoreOur unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 113th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Bennet’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Democrats (72nd percentile); All Senators (39th percentile). |
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Missed VotesBennet missed 1.2% of votes (8 of 657 votes) in the 113th Congress. View Bennet’s Profile » Compare to all All Senators (31st percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Bennet supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Bennet 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all Senate Democrats (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). |
Additional Notes
Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.
Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).
Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.
Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of the 113th Congress) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.