Sen. Susan Collins’s 2020 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from Maine
Republican
Serving Jan 7, 1997 – Jan 3, 2027
These statistics cover Collins’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare her to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.
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 Collins’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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Cosponsored the most bills compared to Senate RepublicansCollins cosponsored 531 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 Republicans (98th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (76th percentile); All Senators (75th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 2nd most bills compared to All SenatorsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 74 of Collins’s 80 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Collins caucused with in the 116th Congress. Compare to all Senate Republicans (98th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (96th percentile); All Senators (98th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 2nd most often compared to All SenatorsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 531 bills that Collins cosponsored, 58% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (98th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (98th percentile); All Senators (98th 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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Ranked 2nd most politically left compared to Senate RepublicansOur 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 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Collins’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Republicans (2nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (52nd percentile); All Senators (47th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 3rd most often compared to All SenatorsMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Collins introduced 37 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 240: Taxpayer Identity Protection Act of …; S. 253: Streamlining Energy Efficiency for Schools …; S. 321: Retirement Security Act of 2019; S. 349: Reviving America’s Scenic Byways Act …; S. 959: Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum …; S. 995: Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act …; S. 1602: BEST Act; S. 1657: Kay Hagan Tick Act; S. 2520: Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, …; S. 3057: Modernization of the Older Americans …; S. 3703: Promoting Alzheimer’s Awareness to Prevent …; S. 4460: State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care …; S. 4773: Continuing the Paycheck Protection Program …; S.Res. 88: A resolution designating March 1, …; S.Res. 126: A resolution expressing support for …; S.Res. 197: A resolution recognizing the roles …; S.Res. 210: A resolution supporting the designation …; S.Res. 241: A resolution designating May 2019 …; S.Res. 260: A resolution recognizing the importance …; S.Res. 295: A resolution designating the month …; S.Res. 327: A resolution designating September 23, …; S.Res. 348: A resolution proclaiming the week …; S.Res. 383: A resolution supporting Lights on …; S.Res. 440: A resolution designating December 14, …; S.Res. 451: A resolution congratulating astronauts Dr. …; S.Res. 512: A resolution designating March 2, …; S.Res. 521: A resolution designating the week …; S.Res. 535: A resolution designating March 5, …; S.Res. 541: A resolution recognizing and celebrating …; S.Res. 568: A resolution recognizing the roles …; S.Res. 590: A resolution supporting the designation …; S.Res. 597: A resolution designating May 2020 …; S.Res. 705: A resolution proclaiming the week …; S.Res. 723: A resolution designating September 2020 …; S.Res. 731: A resolution supporting Lights On …; S.Res. 734: A resolution designating the week …; S.Res. 786: A resolution designating December 19, … Compare to all Senate Republicans (96th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (94th percentile); All Senators (97th percentile). |
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Got the 3rd most cosponsors on their bills compared to Senate RepublicansCollins’s bills and resolutions had 797 cosponsors in the 116th 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 Republicans (94th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (87th percentile); All Senators (92nd percentile). |
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Introduced the 6th most bills compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 1 other)Collins introduced 80 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Republicans (87th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (67th percentile); All Senators (74th percentile). |
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Ranked the 8th top leader compared to All SenatorsOur 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 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Collins’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Republicans (92nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (87th percentile); All Senators (92nd percentile). |
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Wrote the 8th most laws compared to All Senators (tied with 1 other)Collins introduced 9 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th 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. 240: Taxpayer Identity Protection Act of …; S. 321: Retirement Security Act of 2019; S. 349: Reviving America’s Scenic Byways Act …; S. 959: Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum …; S. 995: Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act …; S. 2520: Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, …; S. 3057: Modernization of the Older Americans …; S. 3703: Promoting Alzheimer’s Awareness to Prevent …; S. 4460: State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care … Compare to all Senate Republicans (87th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (89th percentile); All Senators (91st 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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Got bicameral support on the 8th most bills compared to Senate Republicans (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 181: Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act; S. 296: Home Health Care Planning Improvement …; S. 433: Home Health Payment Innovation Act …; S. 591: Guardianship Accountability Act of 2019; S. 659: Biologic Patent Transparency Act; S. 995: Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act …; S. 1602: BEST Act; S. 1657: Kay Hagan Tick Act; S. 1784: Stamp Out Elder Abuse Act …; S. 1803: Educational Opportunity and Success Act …; S. 2214: Volunteer Emergency Services Recruitment and …; S. 2766: Girls’ Leadership, Engagement, Agency, and …; S. 3150: Native Plant Species Pilot Program …; S. 3155: Success for Rural Students and …; S. 3703: Promoting Alzheimer’s Awareness to Prevent …; S. 4155: AUTO for Veterans Act; S. 4460: State Veterans Homes Domiciliary Care …; S. 4504: Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of …; S. 4854: HEAT Act; S.Res. 541: A resolution recognizing and celebrating … Compare to all Senate Republicans (83rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (59th percentile); All Senators (65th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Held the 10th most committee positions compared to All Senators (tied with 5 others)Collins held a leadership position on 1 committee and 2 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. For comparison to other Members of Congress, we assigned a score giving five points for each full committee leadership position and one point for each subcommittee leadership position. View Collins’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Republicans (83rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (72nd percentile); All Senators (85th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors5 of Collins’s bills and resolutions in the 116th 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. 181: Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act; S. 959: Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum …; S. 995: Lifespan Respite Care Reauthorization Act …; S. 1602: BEST Act; S. 1657: Kay Hagan Tick Act Compare to all Senate Republicans (42nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (26th percentile); All Senators (35th percentile). |
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Missed VotesCollins missed 0.1% of votes (1 of 720 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Collins’s Profile » Compare to all Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); All Senators (1st 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 116th Congress) 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.
