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Rep. Luke Messer’s 2015 Report Card

Representative from Indiana's 6th District
Republican
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2019

These year-end statistics cover Messer’s record during the 2015 legislative year (Jan 6, 2015-Dec 31, 2015) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 9, 2016.

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 Messer’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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Joined bipartisan bills the least often compared to House Sophomores

Of the 214 bills that Messer cosponsored, 5% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (33rd percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); House Republicans (18th percentile); Safe House Seats (11th percentile); All Representatives (10th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Got their bills out of committee the most often compared to Indiana Delegation

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Messer introduced 2 bills in 2015 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 2209: To require the appropriate Federal …; H.R. 3857: To require the Board of …

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (89th percentile); House Sophomores (88th percentile); House Republicans (65th percentile); Safe House Seats (77th percentile); All Representatives (78th percentile).

 

Got bicameral support on the 2nd most bills compared to Indiana Delegation

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 3 of Messer’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.Res. 294: Expressing support for the continuation …; H.R. 948: Balanced Budget Accountability Act; H.R. 2317: Lifetime Income Disclosure Act

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (78th percentile); House Sophomores (67th percentile); House Republicans (71st percentile); Safe House Seats (71st percentile); All Representatives (71st percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Was 2nd most present in votes compared to Indiana Delegation

Messer missed 0.9% of votes (6 of 704 votes) in 2015. View Messer’s Profile »

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (11th percentile); House Sophomores (27th percentile); Safe House Seats (25th percentile); All Representatives (25th 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.
 

Got influential cosponsors the 7th most often compared to House Sophomores (tied with 4 others)

4 of Messer’s bills and resolutions in 2015 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. 554: Enhancing Educational Opportunities for all …; H.R. 769: Safeguarding Classrooms Hurt by ObamaCare’s …; H.R. 2209: To require the appropriate Federal …; H.R. 2317: Lifetime Income Disclosure Act

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (78th percentile); House Sophomores (85th percentile); House Republicans (75th percentile); Safe House Seats (75th percentile); All Representatives (76th percentile).

 

Ranked 10th most politically right compared to All Representatives

Our 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 2015 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Messer’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (89th percentile); House Sophomores (97th percentile); House Republicans (96th percentile); Safe House Seats (97th percentile); All Representatives (98th percentile).

 

Supported government transparency the 13th most often compared to House Republicans (tied with 10 others)

GovTrack looked at whether Messer supported any of 28 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Messer 2 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Messer cosponsored H.R. 653: FOIA Act; H.R. 4177: Stop Foreign Donations Affecting Our …

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (78th percentile); House Sophomores (62nd percentile); House Republicans (91st percentile); Safe House Seats (62nd percentile); All Representatives (65th percentile).

 

Cosponsored the 33rd most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Messer cosponsored 214 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 Indiana Delegation (78th percentile); House Sophomores (58th percentile); House Republicans (86th percentile); Safe House Seats (67th percentile); All Representatives (68th percentile).

 

Laws Enacted

Messer introduced 0 bills that became law in 2015. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law.

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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.
 

Bills Introduced

Messer introduced 12 bills and resolutions in 2015. View Bills »

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (67th percentile); House Sophomores (59th percentile); House Republicans (61st percentile); Safe House Seats (58th percentile); All Representatives (60th percentile).

 

Writing Bipartisan Bills

Messer tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 33% of Messer’s 12 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2015.

Compare to all House Sophomores (42nd percentile); House Republicans (31st percentile); Safe House Seats (45th percentile); All Representatives (42nd percentile).

Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Committee Positions

Messer 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. View Messer’s Profile »

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (0th percentile); House Sophomores (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Cosponsors

Messer’s bills and resolutions had 135 cosponsors in 2015. 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 Indiana Delegation (44th percentile); House Sophomores (53rd percentile); House Republicans (52nd percentile); Safe House Seats (51st percentile); All Representatives (52nd percentile).

 

Leadership Score

Our 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 2015 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Messer’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Indiana Delegation (44th percentile); House Sophomores (60th percentile); House Republicans (49th percentile); Safe House Seats (57th percentile); All Representatives (58th 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 2015) was the 114th Congress (freshmen) or 113th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.