Rep. Gary Palmer’s 2016 Report Card
Representative
from Alabama's 6th District
Republican
Serving Jan 6, 2015 – Jan 3, 2025
These statistics cover Palmer’s record during the 114th Congress (Jan 6, 2015-Jan 3, 2017) and compare him to other representatives 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 Palmer’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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Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Alabama Delegation3 of Palmer’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: H.R. 2652: Protecting Patients and Physicians Against …; H.R. 3880: Stopping EPA Overreach Act of …; H.R. 5499: Agency Accountability Act of 2016 Compare to all Alabama Delegation (86th percentile); House Freshmen (56th percentile); House Republicans (46th percentile); All Representatives (44th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the fewest bills compared to Alabama DelegationPalmer cosponsored 121 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 Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (9th percentile); House Republicans (7th percentile); All Representatives (5th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the least often compared to Alabama DelegationOf the 121 bills that Palmer cosponsored, 6% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (19th percentile); House Republicans (16th percentile); All Representatives (9th 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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Was most present in votes compared to Alabama DelegationPalmer missed 0.4% of votes (5 of 1,325 votes) in the 114th Congress. View Palmer’s Profile » Compare to all Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (14th percentile); All Representatives (6th percentile). The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics. |
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Introduced the fewest bills compared to Alabama Delegation (tied with 1 other)Palmer introduced 4 bills and resolutions in the 114th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (9th percentile); House Republicans (4th percentile); All Representatives (4th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the fewest bills compared to Alabama Delegation (tied with 1 other)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 0 of Palmer’s 4 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 114th Congress. Compare to all Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Got the 9th most cosponsors on their bills compared to House FreshmenPalmer’s bills and resolutions had 298 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 Alabama Delegation (71st percentile); House Freshmen (86th percentile); House Republicans (67th percentile); All Representatives (64th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedPalmer introduced 0 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. Compare to all Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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. Palmer introduced 1 bill in the 114th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 4361: Government Reform and Improvement Act … Compare to all Alabama Delegation (43rd percentile); House Freshmen (15th percentile); House Republicans (13th percentile); All Representatives (26th percentile). |
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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Compare to all Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsPalmer held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Palmer’s Profile » Compare to all Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Palmer supported any of 40 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Palmer 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (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 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.
