Sen. Timothy “Tim” Kaine’s 2017 Report Card
Junior
Senator
from Virginia
Democrat
Serving Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Kaine’s record during the 2017 legislative year (Jan 3, 2017-Dec 31, 2017) and compare him to other senators serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 6, 2018.
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 Kaine’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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Ranked the 4th top leader 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 2017 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Kaine’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Democrats (91st percentile); All Senators (89th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 8th fewest bills compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 6 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: S. 331: A bill to remove the …; S. 592: Department of Defense Cyber Scholarship …; S. 691: Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes …; S. 1328: Fair and Equal Housing Act …; S. 1814: Middle STEP Act Compare to all Senate Democrats (15th percentile); All Senators (26th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Held the 12th fewest committee positions compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 12 others)Kaine 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. 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 Kaine’s Profile » Compare to all Senate Democrats (24th percentile); All Senators (20th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 15th most often compared to All Senators (tied with 8 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Kaine introduced 9 bills in 2017 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: S. 331: A bill to remove the …; S. 392: 400 Years of African-American History …; S. 691: Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes …; S. 730: A bill to extend the …; S. 754: Cyber Scholarship Opportunities Act of …; S.Res. 66: A resolution supporting the goals …; S.Res. 142: A resolution commemorating the 10th …; S.Res. 193: A resolution commending the bravery …; S.J.Res. 22: A joint resolution granting the … Compare to all Senate Democrats (85th percentile); All Senators (77th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 24th least often compared to All Senators (tied with 21 others)2 of Kaine’s bills and resolutions in 2017 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. 754: Cyber Scholarship Opportunities Act of …; S. 1328: Fair and Equal Housing Act … Compare to all Senate Democrats (15th percentile); All Senators (23rd percentile). |
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Laws EnactedKaine introduced 1 bill that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2017. 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.J.Res. 22: A joint resolution granting the … Compare to all Senate Democrats (65th percentile); All Senators (49th 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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Bills IntroducedKaine introduced 24 bills and resolutions in 2017. View Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (30th percentile); All Senators (42nd percentile). |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 9 of Kaine’s 24 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2017. Compare to all Senate Democrats (52nd percentile); All Senators (56th percentile). |
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Bills CosponsoredKaine cosponsored 186 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 Democrats (33rd percentile); All Senators (66th percentile). |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 186 bills that Kaine cosponsored, 28% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Senate Democrats (50th percentile); All Senators (61st 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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CosponsorsKaine’s bills and resolutions had 204 cosponsors in 2017. 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 Democrats (54th percentile); All Senators (68th 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 2017 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Kaine’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Senate Democrats (57th percentile); All Senators (27th percentile). |
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Missed VotesKaine missed 0.9% of votes (3 of 325 votes) in 2017. View Kaine’s Profile » Compare to all All Senators (47th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Kaine supported any of 8 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the Senate that we identified in this session. We gave Kaine 1 point, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Kaine cosponsored S. 2159: ME TOO Congress Act Compare to all Senate Democrats (41st percentile); All Senators (54th 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 2017) 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.
