Sen. Jon Tester’s 2014 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Montana
Democrat
Serving Jan 4, 2007 – Jan 3, 2025
These statistics cover Tester’s record during the 113th Congress (Jan 3, 2013-Jan 2, 2015) and compare him to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 12, 2015. Although Rep. Suzan DelBene [D-WA1], Rep. Thomas Massie [R-KY4], Rep. Donald Payne [D-NJ10], and Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI] served in the 112th Congress, they took office within the last two months of the 112th Congress and here are grouped with other freshmen for the 113th Congress.
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 Tester’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.
|
|
Supported government transparency the most often compared to All SenatorsGovTrack looked at whether Tester supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Tester 8 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Tester sponsored S. 375: Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act; S. 549: Public Online Information Act of … Tester cosponsored S. 1130: Ending Secret Law Act; S. 1467: FISA Court Reform Act of … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (98th percentile); Senate Democrats (98th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (98th percentile); All Senators (99th percentile). |
|
|
Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 4th highest % of bills compared to Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 49% of Tester’s 59 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 113th Congress. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (88th percentile); Senate Democrats (84th percentile); All Senators (86th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
|
|
Joined bipartisan bills the 8th most often compared to Senate DemocratsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 269 bills that Tester cosponsored, 28% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (50th percentile); Senate Democrats (85th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (51st percentile); All Senators (54th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
|
|
Ranked 10th most politically right compared to Senate DemocratsOur 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 113th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Tester’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (46th percentile); Senate Democrats (81st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (46th percentile); All Senators (44th percentile). |
|
|
Got their bills out of committee the 10th most often compared to All Senators (tied with 2 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Tester introduced 12 bills in the 113th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 37: Forest Jobs and Recreation Act …; S. 161: Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa …; S. 375: Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act; S. 534: National Association of Registered Agents …; S. 1276: Security Clearance Oversight and Reform …; S. 1341: Cabin Fee Act of 2013; S. 1691: Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform …; S. 1744: Security Clearance Accountability, Reform, and …; S. 1804: Aviation Security Stakeholder Participation Act …; S. 1948: Native Language Immersion Student Achievement …; S. 2061: Preventing Conflicts of Interest with …; S. 2188: A bill to amend the … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (83rd percentile); Senate Democrats (83rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (85th percentile); All Senators (88th percentile). |
|
|
Got the 11th most cosponsors on their bills compared to All SenatorsTester’s bills and resolutions had 432 cosponsors in the 113th 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 Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (83rd percentile); Senate Democrats (79th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (83rd percentile); All Senators (89th percentile). |
|
|
Wrote the 11th fewest laws compared to Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (tied with 8 others)Tester introduced 1 bill that became law in the 113th Congress. 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. 1691: Border Patrol Agent Pay Reform … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (24th percentile); Senate Democrats (32nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (24th percentile); All Senators (32nd 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. |
|
|
Ranked the 16th top leader compared to All SenatorsOur 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 113th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Tester’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (80th percentile); Senate Democrats (72nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (78th percentile); All Senators (84th percentile). |
|
|
Introduced the 18th most bills compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)Tester introduced 59 bills and resolutions in the 113th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (73rd percentile); Senate Democrats (68th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (74th percentile); All Senators (81st percentile). |
|
|
Powerful Cosponsors5 of Tester’s bills and resolutions in the 113th 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: S. 226: Parental Bereavement Act of 2013; S. 375: Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act; S. 534: National Association of Registered Agents …; S. 1276: Security Clearance Oversight and Reform …; S. 1341: Cabin Fee Act of 2013 Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (51st percentile); Senate Democrats (47th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (52nd percentile); All Senators (58th percentile). |
|
|
Working with the HouseThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 161: Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa …; S. 240: Reserve Retirement Deployment Credit Correction …; S. 294: Ruth Moore Act of 2013; S. 346: A bill to amend title …; S. 470: A bill to amend title …; S. 602: Physical Therapist Workforce and Patient …; S. 628: Servicemember Mental Health Review Act; S. 634: Service Members Student Loan Relief …; S. 1155: Rural Veterans Mental Health Care …; S. 1948: Native Language Immersion Student Achievement …; S. 2805: A bill to designate the …; S.J.Res. 18: A joint resolution proposing an … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (66th percentile); Senate Democrats (57th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (65th percentile); All Senators (70th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
|
|
Committee PositionsTester held a leadership position on 1 committee and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Tester’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Democrats (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (35th percentile); All Senators (64th percentile). |
|
|
Bills CosponsoredTester cosponsored 269 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 Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (73rd percentile); Senate Democrats (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (70th percentile); All Senators (69th percentile). |
|
|
Missed VotesTester missed 1.1% of votes (7 of 657 votes) in the 113th Congress. View Tester’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (27th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (28th percentile); All Senators (27th 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 the 113th Congress) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
