Joni Ernst

U.S. Senator · Iowa · Republican · Chair, Small Business and Entrepreneurship

From public records: votes from Voteview, bills from congress.gov, money from FEC filings · votes updated Nov 4, 2026 · How we measure

Effectiveness, 119th Congress so far

How it’s measured

2.50· expected 1.48

Above expectations

Rank 7 of 100 in the Senate · expected = average of 21 majority-party committee chairs

How far Ernst’s own bills got, weighted by substance. The average member scores 1.00.

87 bills and joint resolutions sponsored: 1 significant (got a roll call vote), 85 substantive, 1 commemorative. Compare the Senate

Became law (2)

2 national policy

S. 766 Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2025Unable to determine bill's effect without access to bill text or summary. AI-readBecame law Oct 7, 2026 · Government Operations and PoliticsNational policy
S. 3971 Small Business Innovation and Economic Security ActReauthorizes Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer programs through 2031 with expanded security and training requirements. AI-readBecame law Apr 13, 2026 · CommerceNational policy

Scope tags come from an AI reading of each bill where available, otherwise from its title and policy area. They don’t change the score. How scope is tagged

Became law inside another bill (2)

S. 1872 Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility ActIdentical bill became law as H.R. 1721 · Oct 20, 2026Via H.R. 1721
S. 872 Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025Identical bill became law as H.R. 2069 · Sep 11, 2026Via H.R. 2069

Ernst’s own bill stalled, but the Congressional Research Service lists an identical bill, or one with similar text, that became law. Shown for context; not counted in the score, which follows the Center for Effective Lawmaking. How this works

How Ernst’s ratings compare with every senator

Ratings, 119th Congress

Scores run 0–100 and always sit next to a median. Each tick is one senator; the ringed marker is Ernst.

Ernst in plain answers: party votes, bipartisanship, who votes alike

Attendance

How it’s measured

98/ 100

Chamber median 98 · 21 missed of 915

Voted on 894 of 915 roll calls; missed 21. Lower than 52% of senators.

85%100%

Party loyalty

How it’s measured

100/ 100

Senate R median 100 · Rank 22 of 53

Sided with the Republican majority on 822 votes that split the parties. Higher than 72% of senators.

75%100%

Bipartisan

How it’s measured

8/ 100

Chamber median 9 · −1

Average agreement with members of the other party on contested votes. Lower than 64% of senators.

0%30%

Position

How it’s measured

+0.54

Republican middle 80%: 0.38 to 0.78

Left–right position from roll-call similarity (DW-NOMINATE, Voteview), from −1 to +1. Members who vote alike sit near each other.

LiberalConservative

Ernst’s bills that made it out of committee or further

All bills

12 bills and joint resolutions sponsored in the 119th Congress, furthest along first. These are the bills counted in Ernst’s effectiveness score.

S. 766 Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act of 2025Unable to determine bill's effect without access to bill text or summary. AI-readGovernment Operations and Politics · Became law Oct 7, 2026Substantive613 words National policy
S. 3971 Small Business Innovation and Economic Security ActReauthorizes Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer programs through 2031 with expanded security and training requirements. AI-readCommerce · Became law Apr 13, 2026Substantive5.8k words National policy
S. 872 Stop Secret Spending Act of 2025Requires federal agencies to report other transaction agreement expenditures on USAspending.gov website. AI-readGovernment Operations and Politics · Introduced Jun 15, 2026Substantive1.4k words Introduced
S. 1199 SBA Fraud Enforcement Extension ActExtends Small Business Administration authority to investigate and prosecute fraud in lending programs. AI-readCommerce · Introduced May 4, 2026SubstantiveText pending Introduced
S. 1070 National STEM Week ActDesignates an annual National STEM Week and requires promotion of STEM education and industry engagement. AI-readEducation · Introduced Mar 3, 2026Substantive736 words Introduced
S. 1872 Critical Infrastructure Manufacturing Feasibility ActUnable to determine bill content; summary not yet available. AI-readCommerce · Introduced Nov 10, 2025Substantive366 words Introduced
S. 4505 A bill to require the United States Postal Service to designate ZIP Codes for certain communities.Requires the Postal Service to designate ZIP Codes for certain communities. AI-readGovernment Operations and Politics · Out of committee Aug 6, 2026Substantive649 words Out of committee
S. 4952 Protecting American Taxpayers ActUnknown; bill summary not yet available. AI-readGovernment Operations and Politics · Out of committee Jul 14, 2026Substantive13k words Out of committee
S. 4378 Protecting American Taxpayers ActModifies federal tax or spending policies to protect American taxpayers. AI-readGovernment Operations and Politics · Out of committee Apr 27, 2026Substantive14k words Out of committee
S. 3166 Returning Unspent COVID Funds ActUnable to determine bill content; summary not yet available. AI-readEconomics and Public Finance · Out of committee Nov 8, 2025Substantive234 words Out of committee
S. 298 Returning SBA to Main Street ActRefocuses Small Business Administration lending and support toward main street small businesses. AI-readCommerce · Out of committee Mar 4, 2025Substantive3.1k words Out of committee
S. 68 Complete COVID Collections ActRequires collection of COVID-19 related debts owed to the federal government. AI-readCommerce · Out of committee Feb 10, 2025Substantive1.4k words Out of committee

Stage comes from each bill’s latest action on congress.gov; the full history is on each bill page.