Marco Rubio ranked Florida's most effective Congressional lawmaker in list. Here are the top 5

Every year, the Center for Effective Lawmaking (CEL) from the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University takes a look at the legislators in the U.S. Congress and ranks them according to effectiveness and success in moving and passing bills.

And once again, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) was among the top ten most effective Republican lawmakers in the Senate for the 117th Congress (2021-2023). He was No. 2 behind John Cornyn (R-TX) this year, and the third-most effective lawmaker in the Senate overall, according to the CEL's ranking of the 117th Congress. (Ranking 59th, but undefeated in the MMA was Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Oklahoma, who made news this week for angrily challenging a Teamsters boss to a throw-down in the middle of a hearing.)

The CEL ranks lawmakers on a combination of 15 metrics on the bills they sponsor, how far they move through the legislative process, and how substantial their policy proposals are. The organization establishes benchmarks for each member to rank like with like for comparisons (the expected LES of a lawmaker based on their party, tenure and committee assignments). Each member is given an overall Legislative Effectiveness Score, or LES, compared to a base LES of 1.0, and a party ranking in comparison to all other members of their political party.

Members also are given a score of “Exceeding Expectations” for any who outperform their benchmark by 50% or more, “Below Expectations” for those below 50% of their benchmark, and “Meeting Expectations” for those scoring near their benchmark.

Rubio has the 5th longest streak of "Exceeding Expectations" for senators, for four of his six Congresses.

On the House side, Gus Bilirakis (District 12/north of Tampa) was the only representative from Florida to make the CEL's top 10 list, coming in at No. 7. Bilirakis also made the House list for representatives with the longest streak of "Exceeding Expectations" at No. 10 for his own four Congresses.

Here are the five most effective Congress members from Florida, according to CEL:

Marco Rubio is second-most effective GOP senator

CEL praised Rubio's success in advancing his legislative agenda, noting his attention to international affairs. Rubio;'s Legislative Effectiveness Score was 2.624, more than twice Sen. Rick Scott's 1.134. Rubio is currently the Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence, a senior member of the Committee on Foreign Relations and a member of the Committee on Appropriations and Special Committee on Aging.

• Legislative Effectiveness Score: 2.624

• Bills sponsored: 193

• Bills that passed: 11

• Bills that became law: 7

• Senate ranking: 2 out of 50

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Gus Bilirakis in top 10 House Republicans

Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data and Commerce and is a senior Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, specialized in health policy. CEL noted that lawmakers with "tightly tailored agendas" tended to get the most accomplished in Congress.

• Legislative Effectiveness Score: 2.461

• Bills sponsored: 27

• Bills that passed: 6

• Bills that became law: 4

• House ranking: 7 out of 222

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Darren Soto is top lawmaker among House Democrats

Darren Soto (D, District-9/Kissimmee area and south), who serves on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Agriculture, scored the highest of the Democrats in the House when it came to overall effectiveness, although he didn't make the top ten of all the House members. Soto's major issues are science and technology, and public lands.

• Legislative Effectiveness Score: 2.444

• Bills sponsored: 25

• Bills that passed: 5

• Bills that became law: 4

• House ranking: 28 out of 222

Michael Waltz strong in science, technology

Former Green Beret, Fox News Channel contributor and U.S. defense policy director Michael Waltz, (R-District 6/northeast Central Florida) chair of the Committee on Armed Services' Readiness subcommittee and member of multiple other military, foreign affairs and intelligence subcommittees, represents Florida's 6th District, formerly represented by GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis before he made his gubernatorial bid. Waltz, once considered a "never-Trumper," endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2024.

• Legislative Effectiveness Score: 1.382

• Bills sponsored: 22

• Bills that passed: 3

• Bills that became law: 3

• House ranking: 16 out of 222

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Val Demings leaves House with strong record

Demings, D, (District-10/Orlando area), a former Orlando police chief, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2023, where she served on Homeland Security and intelligence committees and was vice-chair of the Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations subcommittee. She was chosen to serve as a House impeachment manager in 2020 for the first Senate trial of former president Trump and was said to be one of the top contenders to be Joe Biden's running mate. Demings ran for the 2022 U.S. Senate race in Florida but lost to GOP incumbent Marco Rubio.

• Legislative Effectiveness Score: 1.253

• Bills sponsored: 13

• Bills that passed: 2

• Bills that became law: 0

• House ranking: 107 out of 232

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida's Rubio, Bilirakis in top most effective lawmakers ranking