Palmer is the representative for Alabama’s 6th congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 6, 2015. Palmer is next up for reelection in 2020.
He is also House Republican Policy Committee Chair, a party leadership role. Party leaders focus more on setting their party’s legislative priorties than on introducing legislation.
![Photo of Rep. Gary Palmer [R-AL6]](/static/legislator-photos/412608-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Palmer.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Palmer is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Palmer has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Sep 20, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Gary Palmer sits on the following committees:
- House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
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House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Member, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
- Member, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
- Member, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
Enacted Legislation
Palmer was the primary sponsor of 1 bill that was enacted:
Does 1 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Palmer sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (38%) Health (19%) Economics and Public Finance (19%) Transportation and Public Works (12%) Environmental Protection (12%)
Recent Bills
Some of Palmer’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 2955: PLANE Act
- H.R. 2502: Transparency in Federal Buildings Projects Act of 2019
- H.R. 2108: Retirement Freedom Act
- H.R. 995: Settlement Agreement Information Database Act of 2019
- H.R. 850: Agency Accountability Act of 2019
- H.R. 6777 (115th): Settlement Agreement Information Database Act of 2018
- H.R. 6704: To permanently rescind unobligated amounts in the United States Enrichment Corporation Fund.
View All » | View Cosponsors »
As House Republican Policy Committee Chair, Palmer may be focused on his responsibilities other than introducing legislation, such as setting the chamber’s agenda, uniting his party, and brokering deals.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2015 to Sep 2019, Palmer missed 22 of 3,075 roll call votes, which is 0.7%. This is better than the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
