Healthy Congress Index shows Capitol Hill may be shaping up

The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Healthy Congress Index shows things are looking up on Capitol Hill, with less gridlock and more progress toward the resolution of pending bills in the 114th Congress that was seated in January.

The index provides voters with crucial metrics for evaluating this Congress’ ability to effectively legislate and govern and it compares the results against past Congresses.

The initial evaluation shapes up this way:

* The House and Senate had more working days in the first quarter of 2015 than either did at this point during the previous two Congresses. However, the numbers of working days in Washington by the House and Senate fall short of totals at this point during the 104th, 110th and 111th Congresses.
* The first three months of the 114th Congress showed a burst of energy, with congressional committees reporting bills in higher numbers than during recent Congresses.
* In the first three months of the 114th Congress, the Senate saw a significantly larger number of cloture votes than at the same point during the previous two Congresses.
* On the amendment process, this Senate in its first three months considered 202 amendments. This is the second-highest among the Congresses reflected in the index.