Sen. Edward “Ed” Markey’s 2016 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Massachusetts
Democrat
Serving Jul 16, 2013 – Jan 3, 2027
These statistics cover Markey’s record during the 114th Congress (Jan 6, 2015-Jan 3, 2017) and compare him to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Aug 24, 2017. The statistics were updated on Jan 20, 2017 and Aug 24, 2017 to improve how we counted enacted laws. Originally published on Jan 7, 2017.
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 Markey’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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Introduced the most bills compared to Senate SophomoresMarkey introduced 73 bills and resolutions in the 114th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (94th percentile); Senate Democrats (84th percentile); All Senators (88th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the most bills compared to Senate Sophomores (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 302: International Human Rights Defense Act …; S. 707: Opioid Overdose Reduction Act of …; S. 831: Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures …; S. 945: Dry Cask Storage Act of …; S. 1044: E-Access Act; S. 1392: Safer Prescribing of Controlled Substances …; S. 1455: TREAT Act; S. 1473: A bill to authorize the …; S. 1474: Handgun Trigger Safety Act of …; S. 2374: Glen Anthony Doherty Overseas Security …; S. 2494: Fair RATES Act; S. 2603: CLEANUP Act; S. 2730: Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal …; S. 3036: Offshore WIND Act; S. 3104: Plymouth 400th Commemoration Commission Act …; S. 3105: Plymouth 400th Anniversary Commemorative Coin …; S. 3148: John F. Kennedy Centennial Commission …; S. 3400: Restricting First Use of Nuclear …; S. 3412: Ban Poisonous Additives Act of … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (88th percentile); Senate Democrats (80th percentile); All Senators (85th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Ranked 3rd 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 the 114th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Markey’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (6th percentile); Senate Democrats (2nd percentile); All Senators (2nd percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 3rd most bills compared to Senate Sophomores (tied with 1 other)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 14 of Markey’s 73 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 114th Congress. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (75th percentile); Senate Democrats (48th percentile); All Senators (54th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 5th most bills compared to All SenatorsMarkey cosponsored 429 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 Sophomores (94th percentile); Senate Democrats (91st percentile); All Senators (95th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 5th least often compared to Senate DemocratsOf the 429 bills that Markey cosponsored, 26% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (33rd percentile); Senate Democrats (9th percentile); All Senators (45th 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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Laws EnactedMarkey introduced 2 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 114th Congress. 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. 1251: Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Amendments …; S. 3148: John F. Kennedy Centennial Commission … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (50th percentile); Senate Democrats (41st percentile); All Senators (40th 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. Markey introduced 3 bills in the 114th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 1251: Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Convention Amendments …; S. 1455: TREAT Act; S.Res. 535: A resolution expressing the sense … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (44th percentile); Senate Democrats (48th percentile); All Senators (31st percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors5 of Markey’s bills and resolutions in the 114th 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. 302: International Human Rights Defense Act …; S. 945: Dry Cask Storage Act of …; S. 1473: A bill to authorize the …; S.Res. 240: A resolution recognizing the National …; S.Res. 376: A resolution designating the first … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (44th percentile); Senate Democrats (50th percentile); All Senators (51st percentile). |
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Committee PositionsMarkey 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 Markey’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (38th percentile); Senate Democrats (18th percentile); All Senators (21st percentile). |
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CosponsorsMarkey’s bills and resolutions had 250 cosponsors in the 114th 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 Sophomores (56th percentile); Senate Democrats (52nd percentile); All Senators (59th percentile). |
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Leadership ScoreOur 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 114th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Markey’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (44th percentile); Senate Democrats (48th percentile); All Senators (39th percentile). |
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Missed VotesMarkey missed 1.6% of votes (8 of 502 votes) in the 114th Congress. View Markey’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (56th percentile); All Senators (47th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Markey supported any of 22 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Markey 3 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Markey cosponsored S. 229: DISCLOSE Act of 2015; S. 366: Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act; S. 1538: Fair Elections Now Act Compare to all Senate Sophomores (31st percentile); Senate Democrats (30th percentile); All Senators (56th 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 114th Congress) was the 114th Congress (freshmen) or 113th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
