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Sen. Tim Johnson’s 2014 Report Card

Senior Senator from South Dakota
Democrat
Served Jan 7, 1997 – Jan 3, 2015

These statistics cover Johnson’s record during the 113th Congress (Jan 3, 2013-Jan 2, 2015) and compare him to other senators also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 12, 2015. Although Rep. Suzan DelBene [D-WA1], Rep. Thomas Massie [R-KY4], Rep. Donald Payne [D-NJ10], and Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI] served in the 112th Congress, they took office within the last two months of the 112th Congress and here are grouped with other freshmen for the 113th 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 bicameral support on the 3rd fewest bills compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 1 other)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 1 of Johnson’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. 553: Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program …

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (2nd percentile); Senate Democrats (4th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (2nd percentile); All Senators (3rd percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Got the 5th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Serving 10+ Years

Johnson’s bills and resolutions had 79 cosponsors in the 113th 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 Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (12th percentile); Senate Democrats (9th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (7th percentile); All Senators (13th percentile).

 

Ranked the 5th bottom/follower compared to Serving 10+ Years

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 113th Congress 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 (9th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (7th percentile); All Senators (13th percentile).

 

Introduced the 6th fewest bills compared to Senate Democrats

Johnson introduced 16 bills and resolutions in the 113th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (17th percentile); Senate Democrats (9th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (13th percentile); All Senators (16th percentile).

 

Wrote the 11th fewest laws compared to Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (tied with 8 others)

Johnson introduced 1 bill that became law in the 113th 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. 459: Minuteman Missile National Historic Site …

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (24th percentile); Senate Democrats (32nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (24th percentile); All Senators (32nd percentile).

A bill or joint resolution is considered enacted if it or an exactly identical bill to it is enacted as law. We only consider bills that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively.
 

Got influential cosponsors the 13th least often compared to Senate Democrats (tied with 5 others)

3 of Johnson’s bills and resolutions in the 113th 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. 766: A bill to amend section …; S. 1376: FHA Solvency Act of 2013; S. 2299: Native American Languages Reauthorization Act …

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (27th percentile); Senate Democrats (23rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (24th percentile); All Senators (32nd percentile).

 

Was 18th most present in votes compared to All Senators (tied with 4 others)

Johnson missed 0.6% of votes (4 of 657 votes) in the 113th Congress. View Johnson’s Profile »

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (17th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (17th percentile); All Senators (17th percentile).

 

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Johnson introduced 4 bills in the 113th Congress 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; S. 2299: Native American Languages Reauthorization Act …

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (41st percentile); Senate Democrats (42nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (43rd percentile); All Senators (52nd percentile).

 

Writing Bipartisan Bills

Johnson tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 31% of Johnson’s 16 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 113th Congress.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (51st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (49th percentile); Senate Democrats (39th percentile); All Senators (51st percentile).

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

Committee Positions

Johnson 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 (35th percentile); All Senators (64th percentile).

 

Bills Cosponsored

Johnson cosponsored 215 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 (34th percentile); Senate Democrats (38th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (39th percentile); All Senators (42nd percentile).

 

Joining Bipartisan Bills

Of the 215 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 (35th percentile); Senate Democrats (66th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (34th percentile); All Senators (36th percentile).

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

Ideology Score

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 113th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Johnson’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Senate Cmte. Chairs/RkMembs (39th percentile); Senate Democrats (70th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (39th percentile); All Senators (38th percentile).

 

Government Transparency

GovTrack 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 (39th percentile); Senate Democrats (15th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (37th percentile); All Senators (35th 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 113th Congress) 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.