Senator Richard Shelby (AL)

The following is the overall summary page for Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama. In brief, this is an overall summary that constitutes what would be relevant information to know about Senator Shelby before contacting or advocating his office. As with any long-standing Senator, it would be wise to review this as well as the dossier as to advocate most effectively. Long-Standing Senators are usually very well prepared for meetings, and you should always assume that the Senator has reviewed your issues beforehand, and be prepared to have a real conversation. It may be the case that a staffer will meet with you sometimes, especially if you are not from the home district, to screen your content to detect relevancy, as this is a common practice to ensure that the Senator is receiving the most useful information. This dossier serves to aid both you in avocation and the Senator in having effective meetings. We encourage you to add, subtract, and change information contained in this dossier in a productive and proactive way that will aid future advocates in working with the Senator to achieve their goals in session and for campaigners to better prepare for the election cycle.

Background
Senator Richard Shelby currently serves as the senior Senator for the State of Alabama, assuming Senatorial office in 1987, and becoming the senior member in 1997, when junior Senator Jeff Sessions was assumed office. He was elected as a Democrat, caucusing with the Conservative Democrats until the 1994 sea change by Republicans, in which he promptly switched party affiliation to the Republican Party, where he has remained ever since. His current approval rating as rated by Morning Call in September of 2016 shows a 55% approval rating, with a 17% neither approve/disapprove rating. His employment background is in law, serving in Public roles for the entirety of his career, from the City Attorney in Tuscaloosa, then the Assistant Attorney General of Alabama, to the Alabama Statehouse, and finally the United States House of Representatives before his Senate career.

Issues
Senator Shelby is heavily motivated by economic issues as his committee assignments are mainly on economic issue committees and he is a signer of the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge", which is focused on not approving new taxes without the elimination of spending, creating a net-zero effect on the direct budget cost. In addition, Senator Shelby is in vehement opposition to the Roe v. Wade decision, and has on multiple occasions described it as in direct moral objection to the United States Constitution. He also has stated, repeatedly, oppositions to financial regulation, though in 1999 he did not vote in favor of repealing certain rules of the Glass-Stegall Act that would afterwards allow Commercial and Investment banks to exist in murky combined waters and become a cause of the Great Recession.

Writing and Sponsorship
As of January 26th, 2017, during the 2017-18 session, Senator Shelby has Sponsored 1 Resolution, which was S.J. Res 3 (2017-18), which was a resolution proposing a Constitutional Amendment that the Federal Government spending not exceed the revenue incurred by the Federal Government, with the exception of times of war or suspension by Congress. This bill was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary on January 4, 2017, where it remains currently.

Trump Agenda Relations
Senator Shelby repeatedly iterated during the election that he would in the end vote for the Republican candidate, and did not endorse a candidate during the primary. He remained in contrast to direct support for Trump, a sharp difference to his fellow Senator Jeff Sessions, who was an early supporter of Donald J. Trump In January, Senator Shelby did praise Donald Trump's intent to defund federal programs to local governments that are "Sanctuary Cities" and do not follow the letter of the law from the Federal Government. In addition, Shelby supported the withdrawal from the TPP by Executive Action, and said that the policy shouldn't reflect a turn towards isolation as he believed trade is the lifeblood of the country, but that we need to be better at negotiating in the United States' self-interest.

Impact
Senator Shelby remains still a force in the Republican Party, however his national influence has waned since the 1990's and early 2000's, when he was very vocal during the Clinton Administration. In the early 2000's he was caught up in an investigation into whether he exposed security secrets to Fox News regarding the September 11th attacks. Since then, the Senator has been quieter. He expressed significant influence in the early 2010's by putting holds on Obama Administration appointments regarding an issue with KC-135 tanker earmarks in his district. He wields significant power in the Republican establishment regarding economic issues as the Chair of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. His leadership has increasingly been about stripping the regulatory power of the United States Federal Government towards the financial sector and an increasing scrutiny towards the Federal Reserve.

Constituency Relations
There is very little data currently in constituency relations, however we do know that he ranks 30th among Senators for approval rating and that the opposition did accuse him of caring more about money than constituents then backed off a bit on that rhetoric. We are currently working on a system to rate the interactions between congress-members and their constituents that can help advocacy organizations and constituents be more effective in lobbying.

Campaign Financing and Political Interest
Currently, by the 2016 Post General Election Campaign Report Senator Richard Shelby had $10,027,814.73 Cash on Hand. During the general election portion of the cycle, 04/01/16-11/28/16, the campaign spent $186,543.45 and received $528,129.14. Of all Individual Contributions from 2015-16, the Top 6 states were New York ($370,450), Georgia ($118,650), Virginia ($118,300), Texas ($103,801), Alabama ($101,617), and Illinois ($101,250). Much of the individual contributions come from the financial industry and Management industry, specifically Wall Street firms.

Scorecard
Senator Richard Shelby scores high on scorecards relating to financial freedom and pro-life, while scoring low on environmental issues.

Washington, D.C.

 * 304 Russell Senate Office Bldg., Washington D.C., 20510
 * (202) 224-5744

Huntsville

 * 1000 Glen Hearn Blvd. #20127, Huntsville, AL, 35824
 * (256) 772-0460

Birmingham

 * 1800 5th Avenue North, Birmingham, AL, 35203
 * (205) 731-1384

Tuscaloosa

 * 2005 University Boulevard Suite 2100, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401
 * (205) 759-5047

Montgomery

 * FMJ Federal Courthouse, 15 Lee Street, Suite 208, Montgomery, AL 36104
 * (334) 223-7303

Mobile

 * 113 St. Joseph Street, 445 U.S. Federal Courthouse, Mobile, AL 36602
 * (251) 694-4164