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Sen. Bill Nelson’s 2013 Report Card

Senior Senator from Florida
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2001 – Jan 3, 2019

These year-end statistics cover Nelson’s record during the 2013 legislative year (Jan 3, 2013-Dec 26, 2013) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Dec 1, 2014. On Dec. 1, 2014, the statistics were updated to remove Sen. Schatz from the list of Senate sophomores. Schatz only served for several days in the preceding 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 Nelson’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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Ranked 10th most politically right compared to Senate Democrats

Our 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 2013 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Nelson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (46th percentile); Senate Democrats (81st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (46th percentile); All Senators (45th percentile).

 

Cosponsored the 11th fewest bills compared to Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs

Nelson cosponsored 116 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 Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (24th percentile); Senate Democrats (34th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (32nd percentile); All Senators (36th percentile).

 

Got their bills out of committee the 11th most often compared to All Senators (tied with 3 others)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Nelson introduced 7 bills in 2013 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: S. 839: Coral Reef Conservation Amendments Act …; S. 1254: Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia …; S. 1262: Veterans Conservation Corps Act of …; S. 1317: National Aeronautics and Space Administration …; S. 1774: Undetectable Firearms Reauthorization Act of …; S.Res. 12: A resolution recognizing the third …; S.Res. 312: A resolution calling on the …

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (78th percentile); Senate Democrats (81st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (80th percentile); All Senators (86th percentile).

 

Ranked the 20th top leader compared to All Senators

Our 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 2013 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Nelson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (73rd percentile); Senate Democrats (64th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (68th percentile); All Senators (80th percentile).

 

Got influential cosponsors the 16th most often compared to All Senators (tied with 9 others)

4 of Nelson’s bills and resolutions in 2013 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. 839: Coral Reef Conservation Amendments Act …; S. 1254: Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia …; S. 1317: National Aeronautics and Space Administration …; S. 1753: A bill to extend Government …

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (71st percentile); Senate Democrats (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (68th percentile); All Senators (75th percentile).

 

Got bicameral support on the 18th most bills compared to All Senators (tied with 6 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 9 of Nelson’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the House. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: S. 220: Citrus Disease Research and Development …; S. 397: Lena Horne Recognition Act; S. 414: Everglades for the Next Generation …; S. 647: No Stolen Trademarks Honored in …; S. 772: Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small …; S. 855: CDBG Public Services Flexibility Act …; S. 1365: Part D Beneficiary Appeals Fairness …; S. 1672: Special Needs Trust Fairness Act …; S.Res. 312: A resolution calling on the …

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (68th percentile); Senate Democrats (70th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (70th percentile); All Senators (76th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Got the 23rd most cosponsors on their bills compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)

Nelson’s bills and resolutions had 197 cosponsors in 2013. 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 Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (73rd percentile); Senate Democrats (58th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (68th percentile); All Senators (76th percentile).

 

Introduced the 23rd most bills compared to All Senators (tied with 2 others)

Nelson introduced 35 bills and resolutions in 2013. View Bills »

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (68th percentile); Senate Democrats (60th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (66th percentile); All Senators (75th percentile).

 

Laws Enacted

Nelson introduced 0 bills that became law in 2013. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (0th percentile); Senate Democrats (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile).

We only count enacted bills (and joint resolutions) that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through companion bills or incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively.
 

Writing Bipartisan Bills

Nelson tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 31% of Nelson’s 35 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2013.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (48th percentile); Senate Democrats (43rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (48th percentile); All Senators (50th percentile).

Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Committee Positions

Nelson held a leadership position on 1 committee and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Nelson’s Profile »

Compare to all Senate Democrats (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); All Senators (64th percentile).

 

Joining Bipartisan Bills

Of the 116 bills that Nelson cosponsored, 23% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (38th percentile); Senate Democrats (71st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); All Senators (40th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Missed Votes

Nelson missed 1.7% of votes (5 of 291 votes) in 2013. View Nelson’s Profile »

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (51st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (50th percentile); All Senators (54th percentile).

 

Government Transparency

GovTrack looked at whether Nelson supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Nelson 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (0th percentile); Senate Democrats (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (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 2013) 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.