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Sen. Jon Tester

Senator for Montana

pronounced jon // TEST-er

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Tester is the senior senator from Montana and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 4, 2007. Tester is next up for reelection in 2018.

Photo of Sen. Jon Tester [D-MT]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2017 Report Card for Tester.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Tester is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Tester has sponsored and cosponsored. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Committee Membership

Jon Tester sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Tester was the primary sponsor of 14 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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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

Tester sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Armed Forces and National Security (33%) Government Operations and Politics (18%) Native Americans (15%) Education (12%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (7%) Health (7%) Taxation (6%)

Recent Bills

Some of Tester’s most recently sponsored bills include...

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Tester’s Vote Vote Description
Nay S. 139: FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017
Jan 18, 2018. Motion Agreed to 65/34.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017. The bill would extend so-called "section 702" government surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The bill was originally introduced and passed the Senate in 2017 as the Rapid DNA ...
Nay H.J.Res. 43: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule submitted by Secretary of Health and Human Services relating ...
Mar 30, 2017. Joint Resolution Passed 51/50.
Joe Biden never got the opportunity to break a single 50-50 Senate tie in eight years as vice president. Mike Pence has already broken two. One from last month has since become law: a measure allowing states to withhold federal Planned Parenthood funding. (The other ...
Yea H.R. 5325: Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2017
Sep 28, 2016. Bill Passed 72/26.
The Continuing Appropriations and Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017, and Zika Response and Preparedness Act (H.R. 5325) is an appropriations bill which extended funding at the previous year's levels up to December 9, 2016 (10 weeks). After this, a continuing ...
Nay S. 2328: National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2015
Jun 29, 2016. Motion Agreed to 68/30.
The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) is a 2016 US federal law that established an oversight board, a process for restructuring debt, and expedited procedures for approving critical infrastructure projects in order to combat the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis. Through PROMESA, ...
Yea H.R. 22: Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act
Dec 3, 2015. Conference Report Agreed to 83/16.
H.R 22, formerly the Hire More Heroes Act, has become the Senate’s vehicle for passage of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act or DRIVE Act (S. 1647). The DRIVE Act is a major bipartisan transportation bill that would authorize funding ...
Nay S. 754: Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015
Oct 27, 2015. Bill Passed 74/21.
After years of delay and false starts, Congress may finally be on the verge of passing a bill to address Internet data breaches and cybersecurity. The Senate is once again debating the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S. 754), or CISA, and it appears to have ...
Yea H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015
Sep 18, 2014. Joint Resolution Passed 78/22.
Nay H.R. 3080 (112th): United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act
Oct 12, 2011. Bill Passed 83/15.
Nay H.R. 514 (112th): FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011
Feb 15, 2011. Bill Passed 86/12.
Yea H.R. 4853 (111th): Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010
Dec 15, 2010. Motion Agreed to 81/19.
The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111–312, H.R. 4853, 124 Stat. 3296, enacted December 17, 2010), also known as the 2010 Tax Relief Act, was passed by the United States Congress on December 16, 2010, and signed into ...
Nay H.R. 1424 (110th): Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007
Oct 1, 2008. Bill Passed 74/25.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of economic stimulus relief during the 2008 financial crisis as well as other unrelated provisions. It was the Senate's October 2008 plan, and it became law. The bill contains sections for: * Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 2007 to Oct 2018, Tester missed 29 of 3,562 roll call votes, which is 0.8%. This is better than the median of 1.5% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: