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Sen. Shelley Moore Capito’s 2018 Report Card

Junior Senator from West Virginia
Republican
Serving Jan 6, 2015 – Jan 3, 2027

These statistics cover Capito’s record during the 115th Congress (Jan 3, 2017-Jan 3, 2019) and compare her to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 20, 2019.

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 Capito’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 fewest laws compared to Senate Sophomores (tied with 1 other)

Capito introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 115th 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. 3389: A bill to redesignate a …

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (0th percentile); Senate Republicans (2nd percentile); All Senators (6th 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.
 

Ranked 2nd most politically left compared to Senate Sophomores

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 115th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Capito’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (8th percentile); Senate Republicans (22nd percentile); All Senators (61st percentile).

 

Cosponsored the 3rd most bills compared to Senate Republicans

Capito cosponsored 316 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 Sophomores (85th percentile); Senate Republicans (94th percentile); All Senators (61st percentile).

 

Joined bipartisan bills the 4th most often compared to Senate Republicans

In this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 316 bills that Capito cosponsored, 41% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (92nd percentile); Senate Republicans (92nd percentile); All Senators (87th percentile).

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

Ranked the 5th bottom/follower compared to Senate Republicans

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 115th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Capito’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (15th percentile); Senate Republicans (8th percentile); All Senators (13th percentile).

 

Got their bills out of committee the 11th least often compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 5 others)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Capito introduced 8 bills in the 115th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: S. 593: Target Practice and Marksmanship Training …; S. 1857: A bill to establish a …; S. 2842: Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention …; S. 3109: Department of Homeland Security Appropriations …; S. 3389: A bill to redesignate a …; S.Res. 107: A resolution congratulating the rifle …; S.Res. 227: A resolution recognizing “National Youth …; S.Res. 419: A resolution designating the week …

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (31st percentile); Senate Republicans (20th percentile); All Senators (29th percentile).

 

Introduced the 15th fewest bills compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)

Capito introduced 25 bills and resolutions in the 115th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (15th percentile); Senate Republicans (14th percentile); All Senators (14th percentile).

 

Got the 16th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to All Senators

Capito’s bills and resolutions had 114 cosponsors in the 115th 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 Sophomores (38th percentile); Senate Republicans (16th percentile); All Senators (15th percentile).

 

Got influential cosponsors the 25th least often compared to All Senators (tied with 15 others)

4 of Capito’s bills and resolutions in the 115th 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. 262: Steel Industry Preservation Act; S. 263: Ozone Standards Implementation Act of …; S. 2842: Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention …; S. 3009: Regulatory Certainty Act of 2018

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (31st percentile); Senate Republicans (28th percentile); All Senators (24th percentile).

 

Supported government transparency the 25th least often compared to All Senators (tied with 17 others)

GovTrack looked at whether Capito supported any of 14 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Capito 1 point, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Capito cosponsored S.Res. 323: STOP Sexual Harassment Resolution

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (46th percentile); Senate Republicans (48th percentile); All Senators (24th percentile).

 

Working with the House

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 9 of Capito’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. 76: CORE Act; S. 262: Steel Industry Preservation Act; S. 413: Improving Transparency and Accuracy in …; S. 593: Target Practice and Marksmanship Training …; S. 1013: Gigabit Opportunity Act; S. 1075: Appalachian Ethane Storage Hub Study …; S. 2387: Concentrating on High-value Alzheimer’s Needs …; S. 2610: Preventing Overdoses While in Emergency …; S. 3389: A bill to redesignate a …

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (31st percentile); Senate Republicans (42nd percentile); All Senators (37th 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. 19 of Capito’s 25 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Capito caucused with in the 115th Congress.

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (54th percentile); Senate Republicans (44th percentile); All Senators (43rd percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.
 

Committee Positions

Capito 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 Capito’s Profile »

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (23rd percentile); Senate Republicans (16th percentile); All Senators (19th percentile).

 

Missed Votes

Capito missed 1.0% of votes (6 of 599 votes) in the 115th Congress. View Capito’s Profile »

Compare to all Senate Sophomores (46th percentile); All Senators (49th 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 115th Congress) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.