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Sen. Richard Shelby

Senator from Alabama, Republican

Shelby, a Republican, is a senator from Alabama and has served since Jan 6, 1987 (next election in 2022).

He was previously the representative for Alabama's 7th congressional district (1979-1986; Democrat).

What you can do

Photo of Sen. Richard Shelby [R-AL]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2016 Report Card for Shelby.

Sponsorship Analysis

Our unique analysis of the bills Shelby has sponsored and cosponsored provides insight into his position in the Senate.

Each dot in the chart below is a member of the Senate. The dots are positioned horizontally according to our progressive—conservative ideology score and vertically according to our leadership score (leaders toward the top). Shelby is shown as a purple triangle. (analysis methodology)

Committee Membership

Richard Shelby sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Shelby was the primary sponsor of 25 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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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 about one third or more 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

Shelby sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Finance and Financial Sector (31%) Economics and Public Finance (25%) Taxation (19%) Sports and Recreation (13%) International Affairs (13%)

Recent Bills

Some of Shelby’s most recently sponsored bills include...

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Shelby’s Vote Vote Description
Yea H.R. 5325: Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2017
Sep 28, 2016. Bill Passed 72/26.
Yea S. 2943: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
Jun 14, 2016. Bill Passed 85/13.
Nay H.R. 22: Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act
Dec 3, 2015. Conference Report Agreed to 83/16.
H.R 22, formerly the Hire More Heroes Act, has become the Senate’s vehicle for passage of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act or DRIVE Act (S. 1647). The DRIVE Act is a major bipartisan transportation bill that would authorize funding ...
Nay H.R. 22: Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act
Jul 30, 2015. Bill Passed 65/34.
This vote turned H.R 22, originally the Hire More Heroes Act, into the Senate’s vehicle for passage of the Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act or DRIVE Act (S. 1647), a major bipartisan transportation bill, and the Export-Import Bank Reform and ...
Nay S. 1177: Every Child Achieves Act of 2015
Jul 16, 2015. Bill Passed 81/17.
The Every Child Achieves Act is a bipartisan educational policy reform bill that would expand state responsibility over schools, provide grants to charter schools, and reduce the federal test-based accountability system of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The bill was referred to the ...
Yea H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015
Sep 18, 2014. Joint Resolution Passed 78/22.
Nay S.Res. 16 (113th): A resolution amending the Standing Rules of the Senate.
Jan 24, 2013. Resolution Agreed to 86/9.
Yea H.R. 4853 (111th): Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010
Dec 15, 2010. Motion Agreed to 81/19.
The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111–312, H.R. 4853, 124 Stat. 3296, enacted December 17, 2010), also known as the 2010 Tax Relief Act, was passed by the United States Congress on December 16, 2010, and signed into ...
Yea On the Nomination PN64-6: Timothy F. Geithner, of New York, to be Secretary of the Treasury
Jan 26, 2009. Nomination Confirmed 60/34.
Nay H.R. 1424 (110th): Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007
Oct 1, 2008. Bill Passed 74/25.
This is the Senate's October 2008 Economic Stimulus Relief Bill. This bill was originally introduced in March 2007 and passed the House as the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. In October 2008, it was co-opted as the so-called "vehicle" to pass the relief bill ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 1987 to Jul 2017, Shelby missed 197 of 10,037 roll call votes, which is 2.0%. This is on par with the median of 1.3% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

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Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: