Rep. Ralph Hall’s 2014 Report Card
Representative
from Texas's 4th District
Republican
Served Jan 5, 1981 – Jan 3, 2015
These statistics cover Hall’s record during the 113th Congress (Jan 3, 2013-Jan 2, 2015) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 12, 2015. Although Rep. Suzan DelBene [D-WA1], Rep. Thomas Massie [R-KY4], Rep. Donald Payne [D-NJ10], and Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI] served in the 112th Congress, they took office within the last two months of the 112th Congress and here are grouped with other freshmen for the 113th Congress.
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 Hall’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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Wrote the 2nd most laws compared to Texas DelegationHall introduced 3 bills that became law in the 113th 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: H.R. 185: To designate the United States …; H.R. 2431: National Integrated Drought Information System …; H.R. 4032: North Texas Invasive Species Barrier … Compare to all Texas Delegation (94th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); House Republicans (93rd percentile); Safe House Seats (96th percentile); All Representatives (95th 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. |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 3rd highest % of bills compared to Texas DelegationIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 55% of Hall’s 11 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 113th Congress. Compare to all Texas Delegation (87th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (81st percentile); House Republicans (72nd percentile); Safe House Seats (81st percentile); All Representatives (80th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Ranked 12th most politically right compared to Serving 10+ YearsOur 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 113th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Hall’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Texas Delegation (75th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); House Republicans (78th percentile); Safe House Seats (88th percentile); All Representatives (88th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 14th least often compared to Serving 10+ YearsOf the 221 bills that Hall cosponsored, 6% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Texas Delegation (31st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (7th percentile); House Republicans (22nd percentile); Safe House Seats (12th percentile); All Representatives (11th 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 bicameral support on the 10th fewest bills compared to Texas Delegation (tied with 9 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 185: To designate the United States … Compare to all Texas Delegation (25th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (18th percentile); House Republicans (24th percentile); Safe House Seats (23rd percentile); All Representatives (23rd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Was 49th most absent in votes compared to All RepresentativesHall missed 7.4% of votes (89 of 1,204 votes) in the 113th Congress. View Hall’s Profile » Compare to all Texas Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (84th percentile); Safe House Seats (88th percentile); All Representatives (89th 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. |
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Got their bills out of committee the 59th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 40 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Hall introduced 3 bills in the 113th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 185: To designate the United States …; H.R. 2431: National Integrated Drought Information System …; H.R. 4032: North Texas Invasive Species Barrier … Compare to all Texas Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (73rd percentile); House Republicans (63rd percentile); Safe House Seats (78th percentile); All Representatives (78th percentile). |
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Bills IntroducedHall introduced 11 bills and resolutions in the 113th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Texas Delegation (36th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (32nd percentile); House Republicans (40th percentile); Safe House Seats (37th percentile); All Representatives (36th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors2 of Hall’s bills and resolutions in the 113th 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: H.R. 185: To designate the United States …; H.R. 2431: National Integrated Drought Information System … Compare to all Texas Delegation (39th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (31st percentile); House Republicans (33rd percentile); Safe House Seats (35th percentile); All Representatives (34th percentile). |
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Committee PositionsHall 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 Hall’s Profile » Compare to all Texas Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Bills CosponsoredHall cosponsored 221 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 Texas Delegation (47th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (39th percentile); House Republicans (57th percentile); Safe House Seats (40th percentile); All Representatives (38th percentile). |
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CosponsorsHall’s bills and resolutions had 247 cosponsors in the 113th 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 Texas Delegation (58th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (56th percentile); House Republicans (58th percentile); Safe House Seats (61st percentile); All Representatives (61st percentile). |
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Leadership ScoreOur 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 113th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Hall’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Texas Delegation (69th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (66th percentile); House Republicans (57th percentile); Safe House Seats (70th percentile); All Representatives (70th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Hall supported any of 12 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Hall 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all Texas Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Republicans (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (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 113th Congress) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
