Peter King is retiring after nearly 30 years in Congress. He has served in many leadership capacities including Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. Most recently, King worked across the aisle with his New York delegation colleagues to secure permanent funding for the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund. Around Capitol Hill, King is known for bipartisanship and being a moderate Republican. King had one bill signed into law by President Trump, renewing money for a program that improves emergency health care for seriously ill or injured kids.
What the rankings mean:
Number of bills sponsored:
This metric measures the number of unique bills put forward by a Representative or a Senator. A Resolution usually expresses an opinion or addresses procedure in the House or Senate and doesn’t go to the President. An Amendment is a change to the language of legislation. Everything has to be voted on.
Number of bills passed out of one chamber:
Getting a bill passed through a chamber is tough. In order to pass a bill out of a chamber, a member of Congress must build consensus among his or her colleagues.
Number of bills signed into law:
If a bill from an opposite party is signed into law by a President, the achievement is a significant victory for that Member of Congress if the bill is significant. Many non-controversial bills are signed into law as a matter of routine.
Percentage a member votes with his or her party:
Source: ProPublica. Procedural votes count toward this score and it isn’t entirely indicative of a member’s loyalty, or disloyalty, to the party.
Lugar Center Bipartisan Index Score:
The Bipartisan Index is a joint project of The Lugar Center and the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. Scores above 1.0 are outstanding. Scores above .5 are very good. Scores below -.5 are poor. Scores below -1.0 are very poor.