Sen. Lamar Alexander’s 2019 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Tennessee
Republican
Served Jan 7, 2003 – Jan 3, 2021
These year-end statistics cover Alexander’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.
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 Alexander’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 bicameral support on the fewest bills compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 642: Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds Congressional … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Introduced the 2nd fewest bills compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 1 other)Alexander introduced 15 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (2nd percentile); Senate Republicans (11th percentile); All Senators (7th percentile). |
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Got the 3rd fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Serving 10+ YearsAlexander’s bills and resolutions had 79 cosponsors in 2019. 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 Serving 10+ Years (5th percentile); Senate Republicans (17th 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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Alexander’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (7th percentile); Senate Republicans (23rd percentile); All Senators (16th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 5th fewest bills compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 1 other)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 8 of Alexander’s 15 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Alexander caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (10th percentile); Senate Republicans (15th percentile); All Senators (11th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Ranked 8th most politically left compared to Senate RepublicansOur 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 2019 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Alexander’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (69th percentile); Senate Republicans (13th percentile); All Senators (54th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 8th most often compared to Serving 10+ YearsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 107 bills that Alexander cosponsored, 34% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (80th percentile); Senate Republicans (60th percentile); All Senators (70th 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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Was 9th most absent in votes compared to All SenatorsAlexander missed 17.8% of votes (76 of 428 votes) in 2019. View Alexander’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (86th percentile); All Senators (91st percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 12th fewest bills compared to All SenatorsAlexander cosponsored 107 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 Serving 10+ Years (12th percentile); Senate Republicans (21st percentile); All Senators (11th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 10th least often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 4 others)3 of Alexander’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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. 192: Community and Public Health Programs …; S. 1895: Lower Health Care Costs Act; S.Res. 377: A resolution designating October 30, … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (21st percentile); Senate Republicans (43rd percentile); All Senators (33rd percentile). |
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Laws EnactedAlexander introduced 3 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. 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. 138: Shiloh National Military Park Boundary …; S. 140: James K. Polk Presidential Home …; S. 2470: Energy and Water Development and … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (69th percentile); Senate Republicans (72nd percentile); All Senators (77th 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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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Alexander introduced 7 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 138: Shiloh National Military Park Boundary …; S. 140: James K. Polk Presidential Home …; S. 1895: Lower Health Care Costs Act; S. 2470: Energy and Water Development and …; S.Res. 202: A resolution congratulating the students, …; S.Res. 257: A resolution designating June 20, …; S.Res. 377: A resolution designating October 30, … Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (36th percentile); Senate Republicans (45th percentile); All Senators (53rd percentile). |
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Committee PositionsAlexander 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 Alexander’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (40th percentile); Senate Republicans (74th percentile); All Senators (67th 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 2019) 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.
