Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s 2019 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from California
Democrat
Served Nov 10, 1992 – Sep 29, 2023
These year-end statistics cover Feinstein’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 Feinstein’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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Wrote the most laws compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 1 other)Feinstein introduced 4 bills 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. 67: California Desert Protection and Recreation …; S. 93: Contra Costa Canal Transfer Act; S. 308: Santa Ana River Wash Plan …; S. 316: Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (83rd percentile); Senate Democrats (96th percentile); All Senators (90th 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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Held the 3rd most committee positions compared to All SenatorsFeinstein held a leadership position on 2 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. For comparison to other Members of Congress, we assigned a score giving five points for each full committee leadership position and one point for each subcommittee leadership position. View Feinstein’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (95th percentile); Senate Democrats (96th percentile); All Senators (97th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 2nd least often compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 2 others)1 of Feinstein’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. 2612: A bill for the relief … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (7th percentile); Senate Democrats (2nd percentile); All Senators (9th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 5th most often compared to Senate DemocratsMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Feinstein introduced 13 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 67: California Desert Protection and Recreation …; S. 93: Contra Costa Canal Transfer Act; S. 308: Santa Ana River Wash Plan …; S. 316: Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage …; S. 774: Rim of the Valley Corridor …; S. 906: Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction …; S.Res. 36: A resolution supporting the observation …; S.Res. 125: A resolution designating March 2019 …; S.Res. 178: A resolution recognizing and supporting …; S.Res. 208: A resolution expressing support for …; S.Res. 302: A resolution designating September 2019 …; S.Res. 304: A resolution designating September 2019 …; S.Res. 462: A resolution designating January 2020 … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (74th percentile); Senate Democrats (89th percentile); All Senators (80th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 5th most bills compared to Serving 10+ YearsFeinstein cosponsored 407 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 Serving 10+ Years (88th percentile); Senate Democrats (71st percentile); All Senators (87th percentile). |
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Got the 12th most cosponsors on their bills compared to All SenatorsFeinstein’s bills and resolutions had 474 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 Serving 10+ Years (76th percentile); Senate Democrats (80th percentile); All Senators (88th percentile). |
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Ranked 19th most politically left compared to All SenatorsOur 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 2019 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Feinstein’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (24th percentile); Senate Democrats (38th percentile); All Senators (18th percentile). |
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Ranked the 19th top leader 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 Feinstein’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (67th percentile); Senate Democrats (73rd percentile); All Senators (81st percentile). |
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Introduced the 23rd most bills compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)Feinstein introduced 50 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (64th percentile); Senate Democrats (60th percentile); All Senators (76th percentile). |
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Working with the HouseThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 93: Contra Costa Canal Transfer Act; S. 127: A bill to direct the …; S. 308: Santa Ana River Wash Plan …; S. 316: Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage …; S. 703: Ensuring Safe Housing for Our …; S. 906: Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction …; S. 923: Fighting Homelessness Through Services and …; S. 974: A bill to modify the …; S. 1253: Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes …; S. 1318: West Coast Ocean Protection Act …; S. 1438: Breast Cancer Research Stamp Reauthorization …; S. 2083: Athletics Fair Pay Act of …; S. 3042: Small Passenger Vessel Safety Act … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (55th percentile); Senate Democrats (40th percentile); All Senators (63rd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 18 of Feinstein’s 50 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Feinstein caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (55th percentile); Senate Democrats (56th percentile); All Senators (58th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 407 bills that Feinstein cosponsored, 24% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (46th percentile); Senate Democrats (49th 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. |
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Missed VotesFeinstein missed 0.0% of votes (0 of 428 votes) in 2019. View Feinstein’s Profile » Compare to all 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 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.
