Sen. James Risch’s 2015 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Idaho
Republican
Serving Jan 6, 2009 – Jan 3, 2027
These year-end statistics cover Risch’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 Risch’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 the 4th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Serving 10+ YearsRisch’s bills and resolutions had 40 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 Republicans (17th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (6th percentile); All Senators (11th percentile). |
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Ranked the 4th bottom/follower compared to Serving 10+ YearsOur 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 2015 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Risch’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Republicans (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (6th percentile); All Senators (10th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 5th least often compared to Serving 10+ YearsOf the 159 bills that Risch cosponsored, 14% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (8th percentile); Senate Republicans (17th percentile); All Senators (9th 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 Serving 10+ Years (tied with 1 other)Risch introduced 15 bills and resolutions in 2015. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (30th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (15th percentile); All Senators (21st percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 11th fewest bills compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 3 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 552: Small Business Investment Capital Company …; S. 583: Sawtooth National Recreation Area and …; S. 694: Future Logging Careers Act; S. 1777: A bill to amend the … Compare to all Senate Republicans (28th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (19th percentile); All Senators (22nd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Got influential cosponsors the 26th least often compared to All Senators (tied with 22 others)2 of Risch’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. 552: Small Business Investment Capital Company …; S. 1001: Small Business Lending Reauthorization Act … Compare to all Senate Republicans (20th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (17th percentile); All Senators (25th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedRisch 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. 583: Sawtooth National Recreation Area and … Compare to all Senate Republicans (50th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (52nd 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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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Risch introduced 5 bills in 2015 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 552: Small Business Investment Capital Company …; S. 583: Sawtooth National Recreation Area and …; S. 1000: SCORE for Small Business Act …; S. 1001: Small Business Lending Reauthorization Act …; S.Con.Res. 16: A concurrent resolution stating the … Compare to all Senate Republicans (61st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (65th percentile); All Senators (74th percentile). |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsRisch tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 27% of Risch’s 15 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2015. Compare to all Senate Republicans (34th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); All Senators (40th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsRisch 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 Risch’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Republicans (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (7th percentile); All Senators (21st percentile). |
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Bills CosponsoredRisch cosponsored 159 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 Republicans (69th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (43rd percentile); All Senators (47th percentile). |
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Missed VotesRisch missed 0.9% of votes (3 of 339 votes) in 2015. View Risch’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (30th percentile); All Senators (37th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Risch supported any of 19 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Risch 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all Senate Republicans (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (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.
