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Rep. Gary Palmer’s 2020 Report Card

House Republican Policy Committee Chair
Representative from Alabama's 6th District
Republican
Serving Jan 6, 2015 – Jan 3, 2025

These statistics cover Palmer’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.

Members of Congress with party leadership roles often do not participate in the legislative process in the same way as other Members of Congress. Since Palmer was busy being House Republican Policy Committee Chair, the metrics of legislative activity listed below may not apply.

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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Joined bipartisan bills the least often compared to House Republicans

Of the 94 bills that Palmer cosponsored, 11% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Alabama Delegation (14th percentile); House Party Leaders (56th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (35th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the fewest bills compared to House Party Leaders (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 9 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Palmer caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Party Leaders (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.
 

Held the fewest committee positions compared to Alabama Delegation (tied with 1 other)

Palmer 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. 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 Palmer’s Profile »

Compare to all Alabama Delegation (0th percentile); House Party Leaders (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Got influential cosponsors the 2nd least often compared to House Party Leaders

2 of Palmer’s bills and resolutions in the 116th 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.Res. 640: Condemning the global persecution of …; H.R. 850: Agency Accountability Act of 2019

Compare to all Alabama Delegation (29th percentile); House Party Leaders (11th percentile); House Republicans (44th percentile); All Representatives (24th percentile).

 

Was 2nd most present in votes compared to Alabama Delegation

Palmer missed 2.5% of votes (24 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Palmer’s Profile »

Compare to all Alabama Delegation (14th percentile); House Party Leaders (56th percentile); All Representatives (55th 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.
 

Got bicameral support on the 2nd fewest bills compared to House Party Leaders (tied with 1 other)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 2 of Palmer’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.R. 2108: Retirement Freedom Act; H.R. 8284: Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Integrity Act

Compare to all Alabama Delegation (57th percentile); House Party Leaders (11th percentile); House Republicans (42nd percentile); All Representatives (25th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Got their bills out of committee the 3rd least often compared to House Party Leaders

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Palmer introduced 2 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 995: Settlement Agreement Information Database Act …; H.R. 2502: Transparency in Federal Buildings Projects …

Compare to all Alabama Delegation (71st percentile); House Party Leaders (22nd percentile); House Republicans (55th percentile); All Representatives (32nd percentile).

 

Got the 3rd fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to House Party Leaders (tied with 2 others)

Palmer’s bills and resolutions had 225 cosponsors in the 116th 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 (57th percentile); House Party Leaders (22nd percentile); House Republicans (65th percentile); All Representatives (42nd percentile).

 

Cosponsored the 20th fewest bills compared to All Representatives

Palmer cosponsored 94 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 (14th percentile); House Party Leaders (44th percentile); House Republicans (7th percentile); All Representatives (4th percentile).

 

Introduced the 51st fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 14 others)

Palmer introduced 9 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Alabama Delegation (29th percentile); House Party Leaders (11th percentile); House Republicans (21st percentile); All Representatives (11th percentile).

 

Laws Enacted

Palmer introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th 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: H.R. 2502: Transparency in Federal Buildings Projects …

Compare to all Alabama Delegation (57th percentile); House Party Leaders (22nd percentile); House Republicans (51st percentile); All Representatives (37th 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.

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 116th Congress) 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.