Rep. Alcee Hastings’s 2017 Report Card
Representative
from Florida's 20th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Apr 6, 2021
These year-end statistics cover Hastings’s record during the 2017 legislative year (Jan 3, 2017-Dec 31, 2017) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 6, 2018.
A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Hastings’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.
Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.
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Introduced the most bills compared to Florida DelegationHastings introduced 28 bills and resolutions in 2017. View Bills » Compare to all Florida Delegation (96th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (89th percentile); House Democrats (91st percentile); All Representatives (94th percentile). |
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Got the most cosponsors on their bills compared to Florida DelegationHastings’s bills and resolutions had 635 cosponsors in 2017. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills » Compare to all Florida Delegation (96th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (92nd percentile); House Democrats (94th percentile); All Representatives (95th percentile). |
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Ranked most politically left compared to Florida DelegationOur unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2017 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Hastings’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Florida Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (12th percentile); House Democrats (17th percentile); All Representatives (8th percentile). |
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Ranked the 6th top leader compared to House DemocratsOur unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills. For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in 2017 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Hastings’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Florida Delegation (85th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (86th percentile); House Democrats (97th percentile); All Representatives (90th percentile). |
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Was 6th most present in votes compared to Florida Delegation (tied with 1 other)Hastings missed 2.3% of votes (16 of 710 votes) in 2017. View Hastings’s Profile » Compare to all Florida Delegation (19th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (46th percentile); All Representatives (58th percentile). The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics. |
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Got bicameral support on the 7th fewest bills compared to Florida Delegation (tied with 7 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 2691: Everglades for the Next Generation … Compare to all Florida Delegation (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (22nd percentile); House Democrats (29th percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Cosponsored the 11th most bills compared to All RepresentativesHastings cosponsored 482 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Florida Delegation (96th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (96th percentile); House Democrats (94th percentile); All Representatives (97th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 15th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 4 others)8 of Hastings’s bills and resolutions in 2017 had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward. Those bills were: H.Res. 30: Condemning the Dog Meat Festival …; H.Res. 393: Expressing support for addressing the …; H.Res. 401: Urging China, South Korea, Vietnam, …; H.R. 158: Corey Jones Act; H.R. 162: Haitian Educational Empowerment Act of …; H.R. 165: Restoring the Partnership for County …; H.R. 168: Donate for Disaster Relief Act …; H.R. 1406: Dog and Cat Meat Trade … Compare to all Florida Delegation (93rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); House Democrats (96th percentile); All Representatives (96th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedHastings introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2017. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all Florida Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill. |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Hastings introduced 1 bill in 2017 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.Res. 401: Urging China, South Korea, Vietnam, … Compare to all Florida Delegation (15th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (32nd percentile); House Democrats (49th percentile); All Representatives (29th percentile). |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 5 of Hastings’s 28 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2017. Compare to all Florida Delegation (52nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (63rd percentile); House Democrats (60th percentile); All Representatives (59th percentile). |
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Committee PositionsHastings held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Hastings’s Profile » Compare to all Florida Delegation (52nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (20th percentile); House Democrats (40th percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile). |
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Joining Bipartisan BillsOf the 482 bills that Hastings cosponsored, 24% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Florida Delegation (52nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (56th percentile); House Democrats (31st percentile); All Representatives (63rd percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Hastings supported any of 21 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Hastings 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all Florida Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
Additional Notes
Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.
Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).
Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.
Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of 2017) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
