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 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. He is 66 years old.
![Photo of Sen. Jon Tester [D-MT]](/static/legislator-photos/412244-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2022 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 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 from Jan 3, 2019 to Mar 30, 2023. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Jon Tester sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Tester was the primary sponsor of 43 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 4949 (117th): National Cemeteries Preservation and Protection Act of 2022
- S. 4458 (117th): Ensuring the Best Schools for Veterans Act of 2022
- S. 4663 (117th): Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2023
- S. 2533 (117th): Making Advances in Mammography and Medical Options for Veterans Act
- S. 3527 (117th): A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to transfer the name of property of the Department of Veterans …
- S. 2687 (117th): Strengthening Oversight for Veterans Act of 2021
- S. 4223 (117th): Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2022
Does 43 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
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 (48%) Native Americans (11%) Health (8%) Education (8%) Taxation (8%) Agriculture and Food (7%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Tester recently introduced the following legislation:
- S.Res. 149: A resolution designating the first week of April 2023 as “National Asbestos Awareness …
- S. 1125: A bill to authorize an electronic health record modernization program of the Department …
- S. 1028: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to expand health care …
- S. 980: A bill to amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to exempt industrial …
- S. 928: A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prepare an annual …
- S. 897: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to make a permanent …
- S. 849: A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish higher minimum …
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2007 to Mar 2023, Tester missed 53 of 5,342 roll call votes, which is 1.0%. This is better than the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
