Senator Collins Ranked Most Bipartisan U.S. Senator for 8th Consecutive Year
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Susan Collins extended her unprecedented run as the most bipartisan Senator for the eighth consecutive year according to a study released today by the Lugar Center and The McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. Her score of 4.584 for the 116th Congress is the highest full-Congress Senate score in the history of the Bipartisan Index.
“For eight straight years now, our data has shown that Senator Collins is the unrivaled leader of bipartisanship in the Senate,” said Dan Diller, Policy Director of the Lugar Center. “Year in, year out, no Senator has matched her devotion to constructing bipartisan legislation in the interest of getting things done for her constituents and our country.”
“Bipartisan solutions reached by honest debate and consideration of alternate viewpoints not only have the best chances of prevailing, but also often provide the best answers to the challenges facing our nation. This spirit of collaboration is needed now more than ever as we emerge from a pandemic unprecedented in modern times,” said Senator Collins. “By incorporating the ideas of both Republicans and Democrats, I believe we can help restore trust in government and strengthen American families, support small businesses, and create good-paying jobs. I will continue my efforts to bring people on both sides of the aisle together, and I commend the Lugar Center’s ongoing work to encourage cooperation and civility in Congress.”
Although most grading systems of Members of Congress are based on partisan, parochial, or special-interest standards, the Bipartisan Index uses an objective formula to give each Member an overall score based on two major criteria:
1. The frequency with which a member sponsors bills co-sponsored by at least one member of the opposing party
2. The frequency with which a member co-sponsors bills introduced by members of the opposite party
Senator Collins has long been recognized for her efforts to reach across the aisle and find consensus. In 2016, she received the inaugural Jacob Javits Prize for Bipartisan Leadership for her exemplary efforts to facilitate bipartisanship.
Overview of Bipartisan Index Methodology:
The Lugar Center and Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy’s Bipartisan Index is a non-partisan ranking of how often each Member of Congress works across party lines based on sponsorships and co-sponsorships of legislation. The Index excludes non-binding resolutions and ceremonial bills.
Sponsorships and co-sponsorships are positions Senators carefully consider and often reflect their long-term priorities. The Index chose to measure this activity in order to focus the index on bipartisanship and cooperation, rather than where members sit on the ideological spectrum.
For a full description of the methodology behind the Bipartisan Index, please visit the Lugar Center’s website.
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