Sen. James Lankford’s 2015 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Oklahoma
Republican
Serving Jan 6, 2015 – Jan 3, 2029
These year-end statistics cover Lankford’s record during the 2015 legislative year (Jan 6, 2015-Dec 31, 2015) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 9, 2016.
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 Lankford’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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Supported government transparency the most often compared to Senate RepublicansGovTrack looked at whether Lankford supported any of 19 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Lankford 7 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Lankford sponsored S. 282: Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act; S. 1820: Early Participation in Regulations Act … Lankford cosponsored S. 579: Inspector General Empowerment Act of … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (92nd percentile); Senate Republicans (98th percentile); All Senators (95th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the most often compared to Senate FreshmenMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Lankford introduced 5 bills in 2015 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 282: Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act; S. 321: A bill to revoke the …; S. 1576: Representative Payee Fraud Prevention Act …; S. 1818: Principled Rulemaking Act of 2015; S. 1820: Early Participation in Regulations Act … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (92nd percentile); Senate Republicans (61st percentile); All Senators (74th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 8th least often compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)Of the 119 bills that Lankford cosponsored, 14% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (8th percentile); Senate Republicans (13th percentile); All Senators (7th 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 9th fewest bills compared to All Senators (tied with 3 others)Lankford introduced 9 bills and resolutions in 2015. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (46th percentile); Senate Republicans (15th percentile); All Senators (8th percentile). |
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Got the 16th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to All SenatorsLankford’s bills and resolutions had 44 cosponsors in 2015. 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 Freshmen (62nd percentile); Senate Republicans (20th percentile); All Senators (15th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 18th fewest bills compared to All Senators (tied with 4 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 282: Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act; S. 321: A bill to revoke the …; S. 1836: Defund Planned Parenthood Act of … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (46th percentile); Senate Republicans (20th percentile); All Senators (17th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Cosponsored the 20th fewest bills compared to All Senators (tied with 2 others)Lankford cosponsored 119 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 Freshmen (38th percentile); Senate Republicans (28th percentile); All Senators (19th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 26th least often compared to All Senators (tied with 22 others)2 of Lankford’s bills and resolutions in 2015 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. 282: Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act; S. 1576: Representative Payee Fraud Prevention Act … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (62nd percentile); Senate Republicans (20th percentile); All Senators (25th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedLankford introduced 1 bill that became law in 2015. 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. 321: A bill to revoke the … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (69th percentile); Senate Republicans (50th percentile); All Senators (59th percentile). A bill or joint resolution is considered enacted if it or an exactly identical bill to it is enacted as law. We only consider bills that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Committee PositionsLankford 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 Lankford’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (15th percentile); Senate Republicans (6th percentile); All Senators (5th percentile). |
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Missed VotesLankford missed 0.0% of votes (0 of 339 votes) in 2015. View Lankford’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (0th percentile); All Senators (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 2015) 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.
