Sen. Gary Peters’s 2018 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Michigan
Democrat
Serving Jan 6, 2015 – Jan 3, 2027
These statistics cover Peters’s record during the 115th Congress (Jan 3, 2017-Jan 3, 2019) and compare him to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 20, 2019.
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 Peters’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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Cosponsored the most bills compared to Senate SophomoresPeters cosponsored 390 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 (92nd percentile); Senate Democrats (53rd percentile); All Senators (76th percentile). |
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Ranked most politically left compared to Senate SophomoresOur 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 115th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Peters’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (0th percentile); Senate Democrats (81st percentile); All Senators (39th percentile). |
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Supported government transparency the 3rd most often compared to Senate SophomoresGovTrack looked at whether Peters supported any of 14 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Peters 3 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Peters cosponsored S. 210: Global Health, Empowerment and Rights …; S. 298: Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act; S. 3027: Modernizing Congressional Reporting Act of … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (77th percentile); Senate Democrats (15th percentile); All Senators (54th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 16th most often compared to All SenatorsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 390 bills that Peters cosponsored, 40% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (77th percentile); Senate Democrats (77th percentile); All Senators (84th 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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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 21st most bills compared to All SenatorsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 34 of Peters’s 41 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Peters caucused with in the 115th Congress. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (77th percentile); Senate Democrats (79th percentile); All Senators (79th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Laws EnactedPeters introduced 4 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 115th 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. 322: Pet and Women Safety Act …; S. 791: Small Business Innovation Protection Act …; S. 3031: Federal Personal Property Management Act …; S. 3678: A bill to amend the … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (46th percentile); Senate Democrats (66th percentile); All Senators (53rd 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 IntroducedPeters introduced 41 bills and resolutions in the 115th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (62nd percentile); Senate Democrats (32nd percentile); All Senators (46th percentile). |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Peters introduced 12 bills in the 115th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 141: Space Weather Research and Forecasting …; S. 322: Pet and Women Safety Act …; S. 573: National Criminal Justice Commission Act …; S. 791: Small Business Innovation Protection Act …; S. 938: Procurement Fraud Prevention Act; S. 1538: Small Business Employee Ownership Promotion …; S. 1586: Great Lakes Environmental Sensitivity Index …; S. 3031: Federal Personal Property Management Act …; S. 3251: Federal Acquisition Savings Act of …; S. 3437: Federal Rotational Cyber Workforce Program …; S. 3678: A bill to amend the …; S.Res. 615: A resolution honoring the life … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (54th percentile); Senate Democrats (66th percentile); All Senators (57th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors7 of Peters’s bills and resolutions in the 115th 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. 141: Space Weather Research and Forecasting …; S. 322: Pet and Women Safety Act …; S. 380: Outsourcing Accountability Act of 2017; S. 791: Small Business Innovation Protection Act …; S. 938: Procurement Fraud Prevention Act; S. 1538: Small Business Employee Ownership Promotion …; S. 1596: BRAVE Act of 2017 Compare to all Senate Sophomores (62nd percentile); Senate Democrats (57th percentile); All Senators (62nd 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. 322: Pet and Women Safety Act …; S. 573: National Criminal Justice Commission Act …; S. 859: Great Lakes Fishery Research Authorization …; S. 938: Procurement Fraud Prevention Act; S. 966: National Historic Vehicle Register Act …; S. 1225: Vehicle Innovation Act of 2017; S. 1299: Preventing Diabetes in Medicare Act …; S. 1586: Great Lakes Environmental Sensitivity Index …; S. 2055: YOUTH Act; S. 2431: ALERT Act; S. 3678: A bill to amend the …; S.Res. 72: A resolution celebrating the history … Compare to all Senate Sophomores (62nd percentile); Senate Democrats (45th percentile); All Senators (54th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsPeters 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 Peters’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (23rd percentile); Senate Democrats (23rd percentile); All Senators (19th percentile). |
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CosponsorsPeters’s bills and resolutions had 193 cosponsors in the 115th 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 (69th percentile); Senate Democrats (26th percentile); All Senators (35th 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 115th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Peters’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Sophomores (69th percentile); Senate Democrats (34th percentile); All Senators (38th percentile). |
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Missed VotesPeters missed 0.8% of votes (5 of 599 votes) in the 115th Congress. View Peters’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Sophomores (38th percentile); All Senators (39th 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 115th Congress) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
