Rep. Steve Cohen’s 2019 Report Card

Representative
from Tennessee's 9th District
Democrat
Serving Jan 4, 2007 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Cohen’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.
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 Cohen’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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Joined bipartisan bills the least often compared to Tennessee DelegationOf the 830 bills that Cohen cosponsored, 7% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (15th percentile); House Democrats (22nd percentile); All Representatives (12th 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 the most cosponsors on their bills compared to Tennessee DelegationCohen’s bills and resolutions had 516 cosponsors in 2019. 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 Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (75th percentile); House Democrats (73rd percentile); All Representatives (85th percentile). |
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Ranked most politically left compared to Tennessee DelegationOur 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 2019 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Cohen’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (6th percentile); House Democrats (9th percentile); All Representatives (5th percentile). |
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Ranked the top leader compared to Tennessee DelegationOur 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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Cohen’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (62nd percentile); House Democrats (64th percentile); All Representatives (78th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 2nd most bills compared to Tennessee DelegationIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 9 of Cohen’s 34 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Cohen caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (59th percentile); House Democrats (55th percentile); All Representatives (69th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Was 2nd most present in votes compared to Tennessee DelegationCohen missed 1.4% of votes (10 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Cohen’s Profile » Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); All Representatives (45th 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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Cosponsored the 3rd most bills compared to All RepresentativesCohen cosponsored 830 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 Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (99th percentile); House Democrats (99th percentile); All Representatives (99th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 11th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 4 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 1511: Stop Underrides Act; H.R. 1725: Digital Goods and Services Tax …; H.R. 3179: Protecting Our Students and Taxpayers …; H.R. 3304: National Guard and Reservists Debt …; H.R. 3646: SONG Act; H.R. 3663: Complete Streets Act of 2019; H.R. 3902: Housing Accountability Act of 2019; H.R. 3959: School Bus Safety Act of …; H.R. 5195: FAIR Fees Act; H.R. 5401: Safety is Not for Sale … Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (92nd percentile); House Democrats (94th percentile); All Representatives (97th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Introduced the 22nd most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 2 others)Cohen introduced 34 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (89th percentile); House Democrats (91st percentile); All Representatives (95th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 32nd most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 12 others)7 of Cohen’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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. 117: NEWBORN Act; H.R. 118: Streamlined and Improved Methods at …; H.R. 125: Police Training and Independent Review …; H.R. 1400: Horse Transportation Safety Act of …; H.R. 1511: Stop Underrides Act; H.R. 3738: Safer Streets Act of 2019; H.J.Res. 8: Proposing an amendment to the … Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (81st percentile); House Democrats (83rd percentile); All Representatives (90th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 36th least often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 18 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Cohen introduced 1 bill in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 3304: National Guard and Reservists Debt … Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (44th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (23rd percentile); House Democrats (12th percentile); All Representatives (26th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedCohen introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. 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. 3304: National Guard and Reservists Debt … Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (67th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (53rd percentile); House Democrats (57th percentile); All Representatives (63rd 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. |
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Committee PositionsCohen held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Cohen’s Profile » Compare to all Tennessee Delegation (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (14th percentile); House Democrats (40th percentile); All Representatives (42nd 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 2019) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.