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Sen. Patrick “Pat” Toomey’s 2016 Report Card

Junior Senator from Pennsylvania
Republican
Served Jan 5, 2011 – Jan 3, 2023

These statistics cover Toomey’s record during the 114th Congress (Jan 6, 2015-Jan 3, 2017) and compare him to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Aug 24, 2017. The statistics were updated on Jan 20, 2017 and Aug 24, 2017 to improve how we counted enacted laws. Originally published on Jan 7, 2017.

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 Toomey’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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Was 8th most absent in votes compared to All Senators

Toomey missed 8.0% of votes (40 of 502 votes) in the 114th Congress. View Toomey’s Profile »

Compare to all All Senators (92nd percentile).

 

Got their bills out of committee the 9th least often compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 6 others)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Toomey introduced 3 bills in the 114th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: S. 231: A bill to designate the …; S. 1495: Fairness for Crime Victims Act …; S. 3100: Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act

Compare to all Senate Republicans (15th percentile); All Senators (31st percentile).

 

Wrote the 13th most laws compared to All Senators (tied with 8 others)

Toomey introduced 5 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 114th 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. 231: A bill to designate the …; S. 238: Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection …; S. 420: Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency …; S. 1162: Federal Law Enforcement Self-Defense and …; S. 1913: Stopping Medication Abuse and Protecting …

Compare to all Senate Republicans (70th percentile); All Senators (79th 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.
 

Cosponsored the 18th fewest bills compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)

Toomey cosponsored 185 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 Republicans (28th percentile); All Senators (17th percentile).

 

Bills Introduced

Toomey introduced 38 bills and resolutions in the 114th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Senate Republicans (41st percentile); All Senators (41st percentile).

 

Powerful Cosponsors

5 of Toomey’s bills and resolutions in the 114th 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. 576: Encouraging Employee Ownership Act; S. 1495: Fairness for Crime Victims Act …; S. 1802: Consumer Financial Choice and Capital …; S. 1913: Stopping Medication Abuse and Protecting …; S. 2034: Thin Blue Line Act

Compare to all Senate Republicans (50th percentile); All Senators (51st percentile).

 

Working with the House

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 13 of Toomey’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the House. 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: S. 231: A bill to designate the …; S. 238: Eric Williams Correctional Officer Protection …; S. 267: General of the Army Omar …; S. 368: Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Correctional Officer …; S. 420: Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency …; S. 482: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Examination …; S. 695: Dignified Interment of Our Veterans …; S. 1495: Fairness for Crime Victims Act …; S. 1802: Consumer Financial Choice and Capital …; S. 2077: Child Support Assistance Act of …; S. 2919: State Outreach for Local Veterans …; S. 3100: Stop Dangerous Sanctuary Cities Act; S.Con.Res. 32: A concurrent resolution recognizing the …

Compare to all Senate Republicans (74th percentile); All Senators (66th percentile).

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

Writing Bipartisan Bills

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 12 of Toomey’s 38 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 114th Congress.

Compare to all Senate Republicans (52nd percentile); All Senators (49th percentile).

 

Committee Positions

Toomey held a leadership position on 0 committees and 2 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Toomey’s Profile »

Compare to all Senate Republicans (22nd percentile); All Senators (21st percentile).

 

Joining Bipartisan Bills

Of the 185 bills that Toomey cosponsored, 26% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Senate Republicans (74th percentile); All Senators (46th percentile).

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

Cosponsors

Toomey’s bills and resolutions had 219 cosponsors in the 114th 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 Republicans (52nd percentile); All Senators (49th percentile).

 

Ideology Score

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 the 114th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Toomey’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Senate Republicans (28th percentile); All Senators (61st 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 the 114th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Toomey’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Senate Republicans (57th percentile); All Senators (64th percentile).

 

Government Transparency

GovTrack looked at whether Toomey supported any of 22 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Toomey 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Compare to all 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 the 114th Congress) 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.