![Photo of Sen. Marsha Blackburn [R-TN]](/static/legislator-photos/400032-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Blackburn.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Blackburn is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the Senate positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Blackburn has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Feb 13, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Marsha Blackburn sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Blackburn was the primary sponsor of 10 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- S. 1235: Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commemorative Coin Act
- H.R. 5799: Medicaid Drug Review, Utilization, Good Governance Improvement Act
- H.R. 375: To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 719 Church Street in Nashville, Tennessee, as the “Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and United States Courthouse”.
- H.J.Res. 86: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to “Protecting the Privacy of ...
- H.R. 2435 (114th): To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with regard to the Reagan-Udall Foundation.
- H.R. 5729 (113th): Adding Ebola to the FDA Priority Review Voucher Program Act
- H.R. 1817 (111th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 116 North West Street in Somerville, Tennessee, as the “John S. Wilder Post Office Building”.
Does 10 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
Blackburn sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (44%) Science, Technology, Communications (16%) Commerce (11%) Immigration (8%) Crime and Law Enforcement (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Blackburn’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- S. 3286: A bill to restrict certain Federal grants for States that grant driver licenses ...
- S. 3268: A bill to direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct ...
- S. 3007: Eliminate Network Distribution of Child Exploitation Act
- S. 2932: Ask Musicians for Music Act of 2019
- S.Res. 418: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the Government of Turkey’s ...
- S. 2820: Stadiums Operating under New Guidance Act
- S. 2645: Connecting Communities Post Disasters Act of 2019
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2019 to Feb 2020, Blackburn missed 3 of 480 roll call votes, which is 0.6%. This is better than the median of 1.5% 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 and major life events.
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
