Sen. Luther Strange’s 2017 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Alabama
Republican
Served Feb 9, 2017 – Jan 3, 2018
These year-end statistics cover Strange’s record during the 2017 legislative year (Jan 3, 2017-Dec 31, 2017) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 6, 2018.
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 Strange’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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Cosponsored the fewest bills compared to Senate FreshmenStrange cosponsored 86 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 Freshmen (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (17th percentile); All Senators (9th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the least often compared to Senate FreshmenOf the 86 bills that Strange cosponsored, 12% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (2nd percentile); All Senators (1st 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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Got the fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Senate FreshmenStrange’s bills and resolutions had 7 cosponsors in 2017. 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 Freshmen (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (4th percentile); All Senators (2nd percentile). |
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Was most absent in votes compared to Senate FreshmenStrange missed 3.4% of votes (9 of 265 votes) in 2017. View Strange’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (88th percentile); All Senators (87th percentile). |
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Introduced the fewest bills compared to Senate Freshmen (tied with 1 other)Strange introduced 4 bills and resolutions in 2017. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (4th percentile); All Senators (2nd percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the least often compared to Senate Freshmen (tied with 1 other)0 of Strange’s bills and resolutions in 2017 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. Compare to all Senate Freshmen (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the fewest bills compared to Senate Freshmen (tied with 1 other)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 0 of Strange’s 4 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2017. Compare to all Senate Freshmen (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 2nd least often compared to Senate Freshmen (tied with 1 other)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Strange introduced 1 bill in 2017 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 1550: Department of Veterans Affairs Quality … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (13th percentile); Senate Republicans (0th percentile); All Senators (4th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 6th fewest bills compared to All Senators (tied with 6 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 1397: Protecting the Second Amendment Act Compare to all Senate Freshmen (38th percentile); Senate Republicans (6th percentile); All Senators (5th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Laws EnactedStrange introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2017. 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. 1550: Department of Veterans Affairs Quality … Compare to all Senate Freshmen (50th percentile); Senate Republicans (33rd percentile); All Senators (49th 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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Committee PositionsStrange 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 Strange’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Freshmen (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (0th percentile); All Senators (0th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Strange supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Strange 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all Senate Freshmen (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (0th percentile); All Senators (0th 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 2017) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
