Sen. Tim Johnson’s 2013 Report Card
Senior
Senator
from South Dakota
Democrat
Served Jan 7, 1997 – Jan 3, 2015
These year-end statistics cover Johnson’s record during the 2013 legislative year (Jan 3, 2013-Dec 26, 2013) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Dec 1, 2014. On Dec. 1, 2014, the statistics were updated to remove Sen. Schatz from the list of Senate sophomores. Schatz only served for several days in the preceding Congress.
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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Got the 5th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Senate DemocratsJohnson’s bills and resolutions had 30 cosponsors in 2013. 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 (12th percentile); Senate Democrats (8th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (9th percentile); All Senators (12th percentile). |
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Ranked the 5th bottom/follower compared to Senate DemocratsOur 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 2013 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Johnson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (12th percentile); Senate Democrats (8th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (9th percentile); All Senators (12th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 4th fewest bills compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 4 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 553: Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (5th percentile); Senate Democrats (6th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (4th percentile); All Senators (7th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Introduced the 9th fewest bills compared to Senate DemocratsJohnson introduced 10 bills and resolutions in 2013. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (17th percentile); Senate Democrats (15th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (16th percentile); All Senators (22nd percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 13th most often compared to Senate DemocratsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 136 bills that Johnson cosponsored, 24% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (43rd percentile); Senate Democrats (75th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (42nd percentile); All Senators (43rd 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 influential cosponsors the 11th least often compared to Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (tied with 8 others)2 of Johnson’s bills and resolutions in 2013 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. 766: A bill to amend section …; S. 1376: FHA Solvency Act of 2013 Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (24th percentile); Senate Democrats (32nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (27th percentile); All Senators (39th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedJohnson introduced 1 bill that became law in 2013. 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. 459: Minuteman Missile National Historic Site … Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (73rd percentile); Senate Democrats (85th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (75th percentile); All Senators (86th percentile). We only count enacted bills (and joint resolutions) that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through companion bills or incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Johnson introduced 3 bills in 2013 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 459: Minuteman Missile National Historic Site …; S. 684: Mni Wiconi Project Act Amendments …; S. 1376: FHA Solvency Act of 2013 Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (46th percentile); Senate Democrats (47th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (50th percentile); All Senators (63rd percentile). |
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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 Democrats (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); All Senators (64th percentile). |
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Bills CosponsoredJohnson cosponsored 136 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 (46th percentile); Senate Democrats (47th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (50th percentile); All Senators (50th percentile). |
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Missed VotesJohnson missed 1.0% of votes (3 of 291 votes) in 2013. View Johnson’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (39th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); All Senators (38th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Johnson supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Johnson 1 point, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Johnson cosponsored S. 375: Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (51st percentile); Senate Democrats (32nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (48th percentile); All Senators (47th 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 2013) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
