Sen. Ron Johnson’s 2015 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Wisconsin
Republican
Serving Jan 5, 2011 – Jan 3, 2029
These year-end statistics cover Johnson’s record during the 2015 legislative year (Jan 6, 2015-Dec 31, 2015) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 9, 2016.
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 Johnson’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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Supported government transparency the 2nd most often compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 1 other)GovTrack looked at whether Johnson supported any of 19 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Johnson 6 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Johnson sponsored S. 2127: Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick Whistleblower Protection … Johnson cosponsored S. 282: Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act; S. 558: Presidential Library Donation Reform Act …; S. 579: Inspector General Empowerment Act of … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (93rd percentile); Senate Republicans (94th percentile); All Senators (93rd percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 3rd most often compared to All Senators (tied with 3 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Johnson introduced 12 bills in 2015 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 1180: Integrated Public Alert and Warning …; S. 1620: DHS IT Duplication Reduction Act …; S. 1629: District of Columbia Courts, Public …; S. 1638: Department of Homeland Security Headquarters …; S. 1826: A bill to designate the …; S. 1846: A bill to amend the …; S. 1864: Department of Homeland Security Border …; S. 2109: Directing Dollars to Disaster Relief …; S. 2127: Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick Whistleblower Protection …; S. 2375: Federal Asset Sale and Transfer …; S.Res. 310: A resolution condemning the ongoing …; S.Res. 326: A resolution celebrating the 135th … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (85th percentile); Senate Republicans (91st percentile); All Senators (94th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 7th fewest bills compared to Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 1117: Ensuring Veteran Safety Through Accountability …; S. 1323: Social Security Identity Defense Act …; S. 1826: A bill to designate the …; S. 2281: A bill to direct the … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (15th percentile); Senate Republicans (28th percentile); All Senators (22nd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Cosponsored the 9th fewest bills compared to Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembsJohnson cosponsored 127 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 Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (20th percentile); Senate Republicans (39th percentile); All Senators (25th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedJohnson introduced 1 bill that became law in 2015. 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. 1356: National Defense Authorization Act for … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (50th percentile); Senate Republicans (50th percentile); All Senators (59th 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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Bills IntroducedJohnson introduced 32 bills and resolutions in 2015. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (53rd percentile); Senate Republicans (72nd percentile); All Senators (68th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors5 of Johnson’s bills and resolutions in 2015 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. 1016: Preserving Freedom and Choice in …; S. 1629: District of Columbia Courts, Public …; S. 1638: Department of Homeland Security Headquarters …; S.Res. 72: A resolution expressing the sense …; S.Res. 93: A resolution expressing the sense … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (63rd percentile); Senate Republicans (70th percentile); All Senators (74th percentile). |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsJohnson tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 31% of Johnson’s 32 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2015. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (49th percentile); Senate Republicans (51st percentile); All Senators (55th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsJohnson held a leadership position on 1 committee and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Johnson’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Republicans (72nd percentile); All Senators (66th percentile). |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 127 bills that Johnson cosponsored, 24% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (44th percentile); Senate Republicans (72nd percentile); All Senators (45th 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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CosponsorsJohnson’s bills and resolutions had 144 cosponsors in 2015. 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 Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (35th percentile); Senate Republicans (50th percentile); All Senators (49th percentile). |
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Ideology ScoreOur 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 2015 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Johnson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (68th percentile); Senate Republicans (50th percentile); All Senators (73rd 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 2015 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Johnson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (50th percentile); Senate Republicans (50th percentile); All Senators (62nd percentile). |
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Missed VotesJohnson missed 1.5% of votes (5 of 339 votes) in 2015. View Johnson’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (53rd percentile); All Senators (56th 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 2015) 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.
