Congressman Smith Named Most Effective Lawmaker

Update: Today, it was confirmed that not only was Congressman Smith named the top Republican, but also the top lawmaker in all of Congress – Democrat or Republican.

Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) was recently identified as the most effective Republican lawmaker in the 112th Congress, according to a study conducted by political scientists at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University.

Researchers assigned lawmakers “Legislative Effectiveness Scores” using an equation to measure the member’s ability to push bills “through the legislative process and into law.” According to the scores, Smith rated as the highest Republican out of 449 congressional representatives that were scored in the 112th Congress.

The study weighed factors such as legislators’ seniority, the number of bills authored that became law, and the relative substance and weight of bills authored. The results were recently unveiled in a website, www.thelawmakers.org, and accompanying book, “Legislative Effectiveness in the United States Congress: The Lawmakers.”