Rep. James Baird’s 2019 Report Card
Representative
from Indiana's 4th District
Republican
Serving Jan 3, 2019 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Baird’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.
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 Baird’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 bicameral support on the fewest bills compared to Indiana Delegation (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Compare to all Indiana 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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Was 2nd most present in votes compared to Indiana DelegationBaird missed 0.7% of votes (5 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Baird’s Profile » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (11th percentile); House Freshmen (49th percentile); All Representatives (28th 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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Got the 3rd fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Indiana DelegationBaird’s bills and resolutions had 65 cosponsors in 2019. 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 Indiana Delegation (22nd percentile); House Freshmen (39th percentile); House Republicans (47th percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 18th most often compared to House FreshmenIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 122 bills that Baird cosponsored, 42% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (56th percentile); House Freshmen (80th percentile); House Republicans (44th percentile); All Representatives (74th 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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Introduced the 34th fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 16 others)Baird introduced 4 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (11th percentile); House Freshmen (10th percentile); House Republicans (15th percentile); All Representatives (8th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 86th fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 3 others)Baird cosponsored 122 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 Indiana Delegation (33rd percentile); House Freshmen (20th percentile); House Republicans (40th percentile); All Representatives (19th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 96th least often compared to All Representatives (tied with 80 others)1 of Baird’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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. 4817: VA Directly Returning Opioid Prescriptions … Compare to all Indiana Delegation (44th percentile); House Freshmen (24th percentile); House Republicans (36th percentile); All Representatives (22nd percentile). |
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Laws EnactedBaird introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all Indiana 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. Baird introduced 0 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Compare to all Indiana Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 4 of Baird’s 4 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Baird caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Indiana Delegation (33rd percentile); House Freshmen (38th percentile); House Republicans (50th percentile); All Representatives (30th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsBaird held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Baird’s Profile » Compare to all Indiana Delegation (44th percentile); House Freshmen (66th percentile); House Republicans (44th percentile); All Representatives (42nd 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 2019) 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.
