Sen. Deb Fischer’s 2019 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Nebraska
Republican
Serving Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Fischer’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare her to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.
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 Fischer’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 the 5th bottom/follower compared to All SenatorsOur 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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Fischer’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Republicans (6th percentile); All Senators (4th percentile). |
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Got the 5th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)Fischer’s bills and resolutions had 52 cosponsors in 2019. 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 Republicans (8th percentile); All Senators (4th percentile). |
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Introduced the 6th fewest bills compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)Fischer introduced 14 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (9th percentile); All Senators (5th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 9th least often compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 6 others)1 of Fischer’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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. 1133: Disaster Tax Relief Act of … Compare to all Senate Republicans (15th percentile); All Senators (9th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 12th fewest bills compared to All Senators (tied with 8 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 371: BUILD Act; S. 1133: Disaster Tax Relief Act of …; S. 1628: Paid Family Leave Pilot Extension …; S. 2829: Western Expanded In-State Television Access … Compare to all Senate Republicans (19th percentile); All Senators (11th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Cosponsored the 17th fewest bills compared to All SenatorsFischer cosponsored 136 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 Republicans (30th percentile); All Senators (16th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 16th fewest bills compared to All Senators (tied with 4 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 9 of Fischer’s 14 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Fischer caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Senate Republicans (19th percentile); All Senators (15th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Laws EnactedFischer introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills » Those bills were: S. 1133: Disaster Tax Relief Act of … Compare to all Senate Republicans (19th percentile); All Senators (20th percentile). The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill. |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Fischer introduced 6 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 1133: Disaster Tax Relief Act of …; S. 1611: DIGIT Act; S. 2119: Stop Improper Federal Bonuses Act; S. 2299: PIPES Act of 2019; S.Res. 82: A resolution recognizing the 150th …; S.Res. 285: A resolution designating September 2019 … Compare to all Senate Republicans (38th percentile); All Senators (44th percentile). |
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Committee PositionsFischer held a leadership position on 0 committees and 4 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Fischer’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Republicans (60th percentile); All Senators (59th percentile). |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 136 bills that Fischer cosponsored, 22% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (26th percentile); All Senators (29th 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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Missed VotesFischer missed 1.4% of votes (6 of 428 votes) in 2019. View Fischer’s Profile » Compare to all All Senators (51st 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 2019) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
