Kohl was a senator from Wisconsin and was a Democrat. He served from 1989 to 2012.
![Photo of Sen. Herbert “Herb” Kohl [D-WI, 1989-2012]](/static/legislator-photos/300061-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Kohl is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the Senate in 2013 positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Kohl sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 4, 2007 to Jan 2, 2013. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Kohl was the primary sponsor of 15 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S.J.Res. 44 (112th): A joint resolution granting the consent of Congress to the State and Province Emergency Management Assistance Memorandum of Understanding.
- S. 2060 (112th): Fair Military Leave Act
- S. 678 (112th): Economic Espionage Penalty Enhancement Act
- S. 156 (112th): Water Heater Rating Improvement Act of 2011
- S. 118 (111th): Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Act of 2010
- S. 1147 (111th): PACT Act
- S. 1406 (111th): Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010
Does 15 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
Kohl sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (23%) Commerce (18%) Crime and Law Enforcement (15%) Government Operations and Politics (11%) Taxation (9%) Law (9%) Education (8%) Economics and Public Finance (8%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Kohl recently introduced the following legislation:
- S. 3604 (112th): Improving Dementia Care Treatment for Older Adults Act of 2012
- S.Res. 553 (112th): A resolution designating September 22, 2012, as “National Falls Prevention Awareness Day” …
- S. 3427 (112th): A bill to permanently extend the employer-provided child care credit under section …
- S. 3389 (112th): Protecting American Trade Secrets and Innovation Act of 2012
- S. 3365 (112th): State Court Interpreter Grant Program Act of 2012
- S.Res. 495 (112th): A resolution designating the period beginning on June 17, 2012, and ending …
- S.J.Res. 44 (112th): A joint resolution granting the consent of Congress to the State and …
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1989 to Jan 2013, Kohl missed 69 of 7,907 roll call votes, which is 0.9%. This is better than the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of senators serving in Jan 2013. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
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
- Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
