Rep. Jason Smith’s 2020 Report Card
Representative
from Missouri's 8th District
Republican
Serving Jun 4, 2013 – Jan 3, 2025
These statistics cover Smith’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.
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 Smith’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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Was most present in votes compared to Missouri DelegationSmith missed 0.3% of votes (3 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Smith’s Profile » Compare to all Missouri Delegation (0th percentile); All Representatives (8th 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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Held the fewest committee positions compared to Missouri Delegation (tied with 1 other)Smith held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. For comparison to other Members of Congress, we assigned a score giving five points for each full committee leadership position and one point for each subcommittee leadership position. View Smith’s Profile » Compare to all Missouri Delegation (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 2nd least often compared to Missouri Delegation1 of Smith’s bills and resolutions in the 116th 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: H.R. 5594: EMPOWERS Act of 2020 Compare to all Missouri Delegation (12th percentile); House Republicans (24th percentile); All Representatives (13th percentile). |
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Introduced the 3rd fewest bills compared to Missouri DelegationSmith introduced 20 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Missouri Delegation (25th percentile); House Republicans (71st percentile); All Representatives (42nd percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 2nd least often compared to Missouri Delegation (tied with 2 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Smith introduced 1 bill in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.Res. 596: Electing Members to certain standing … Compare to all Missouri Delegation (12th percentile); House Republicans (29th percentile); All Representatives (15th percentile). |
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Got the 16th most cosponsors on their bills compared to House RepublicansSmith’s bills and resolutions had 435 cosponsors in the 116th 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 Missouri Delegation (62nd percentile); House Republicans (92nd percentile); All Representatives (67th percentile). |
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Ranked the 36th top leader compared to House RepublicansOur 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 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Smith’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Missouri Delegation (50th percentile); House Republicans (82nd percentile); All Representatives (55th percentile). |
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Ranked 78th most politically right compared to All RepresentativesOur 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 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Smith’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Missouri Delegation (50th percentile); House Republicans (60th percentile); All Representatives (82nd percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 87th most often compared to All RepresentativesIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 201 bills that Smith cosponsored, 44% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Missouri Delegation (50th percentile); House Republicans (56th percentile); All Representatives (80th 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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Cosponsored the 100th fewest bills compared to All RepresentativesSmith cosponsored 201 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 Missouri Delegation (25th percentile); House Republicans (46th percentile); All Representatives (23rd percentile). |
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Laws EnactedSmith introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all Missouri Delegation (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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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 216: Main Street Tax Certainty Act; H.R. 621: Student Empowerment Act; H.R. 1027: Fairness for Every Driver Act; H.R. 7715: U.S. Military Right to Carry … Compare to all Missouri Delegation (62nd percentile); House Republicans (73rd percentile); All Representatives (53rd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 7 of Smith’s 20 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Smith caucused with in the 116th Congress. Compare to all Missouri Delegation (50th percentile); House Republicans (55th percentile); All Representatives (35th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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 116th Congress) 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.
