Batten Hour: Highlights from the New 116th Congress Legislative Effectiveness Scores

Join Batten's Craig Volden, professor of public policy and politics and director of the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL), and Gerry Warburg, professor of practice of public policy, for a conversation on the CEL’s recently-released legislative effectiveness scores for the 116th Congress.

The legislative effectiveness scores are released biannually by the CEL following the conclusion of each Congress. The CEL identifies the top 10 most effective lawmakers in the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, plus:

Legislators who have the longest continuous streaks of “exceeding expectations” in lawmaking effectiveness in the House and Senate.

Leading freshman legislators in the 116th Congress who were especially effective lawmakers.

New to the report, those members by party and chamber who were the most effective lawmakers in each of 21 different policy areas.

Legislative Effectiveness Scores are based on 15 metrics that take into account the number of bills a legislator sponsors, how far each of those bills advances through the legislative process from introduction to (possibly) becoming law, as well as its relative substantive significance.