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Rep. Anthony Brown’s 2020 Report Card

Representative from Maryland's 4th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2017 – Jan 3, 2023

These statistics cover Brown’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.

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 Brown’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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Got influential cosponsors the most often compared to Maryland Delegation

8 of Brown’s bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress 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.R. 511: Protecting Domestic Violence and Stalking …; H.R. 563: DD-214 Modernization Act; H.R. 3176: To direct the Secretary of …; H.R. 4746: Transgender Military Service Reporting Act …; H.R. 5503: The Commuter Parkway Safety and …; H.R. 6662: PRICE Act; H.R. 7158: Health Enterprise Zones Act of …; H.R. 7897: BIAS Act of 2020

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (88th percentile); House Sophomores (84th percentile); House Democrats (70th percentile); All Representatives (82nd percentile).

 

Got bicameral support on the most bills compared to Maryland Delegation

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 7 of Brown’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.R. 563: DD-214 Modernization Act; H.R. 6574: PANORAMA Act of 2020; H.R. 6661: PROMOTES Act of 2020; H.R. 6662: PRICE Act; H.R. 6961: To authorize the posthumous honorary …; H.R. 8099: Diversity in Defense Act of …; H.J.Res. 83: War Powers Reform Resolution

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (88th percentile); House Sophomores (78th percentile); House Democrats (68th percentile); All Representatives (80th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Got the most cosponsors on their bills compared to Maryland Delegation

Brown’s bills and resolutions had 637 cosponsors in the 116th Congress. 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 Maryland Delegation (88th percentile); House Sophomores (85th percentile); House Democrats (65th percentile); All Representatives (80th percentile).

 

Wrote the 2nd most laws compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)

Brown introduced 9 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills »

Those bills were: H.R. 2756: Developing the National Security Workforce …; H.R. 3087: To make improvements to the …; H.R. 3176: To direct the Secretary of …; H.R. 3177: National Defense Accelerator Network Act …; H.R. 6146: OVERSEA Act of 2020; H.R. 6574: PANORAMA Act of 2020; H.R. 6661: PROMOTES Act of 2020; H.R. 7125: ELITE Act of 2020; H.R. 7157: FLIGHT Act

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (88th percentile); House Sophomores (98th percentile); House Democrats (99th percentile); All Representatives (99th 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.
 

Got their bills out of committee the 3rd most often compared to House Sophomores

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Brown introduced 10 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 970: Robert E. Lee Statue Removal …; H.R. 2756: Developing the National Security Workforce …; H.R. 3087: To make improvements to the …; H.R. 3176: To direct the Secretary of …; H.R. 3177: National Defense Accelerator Network Act …; H.R. 6146: OVERSEA Act of 2020; H.R. 6574: PANORAMA Act of 2020; H.R. 6661: PROMOTES Act of 2020; H.R. 7125: ELITE Act of 2020; H.R. 7157: FLIGHT Act

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (62nd percentile); House Sophomores (95th percentile); House Democrats (88th percentile); All Representatives (93rd percentile).

 

Was 3rd most present in votes compared to Maryland Delegation

Brown missed 1.0% of votes (10 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Brown’s Profile »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (25th percentile); House Sophomores (31st percentile); All Representatives (28th 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.
 

Held the 3rd most committee positions compared to House Sophomores (tied with 1 other)

Brown held a leadership position on 1 committee and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. For comparison to other Members of Congress, we assigned a score giving five points for each full committee leadership position and one point for each subcommittee leadership position. View Brown’s Profile »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (75th percentile); House Sophomores (93rd percentile); House Democrats (86th percentile); All Representatives (87th percentile).

 

Introduced the 7th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)

Brown introduced 64 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (88th percentile); House Sophomores (96th percentile); House Democrats (97th percentile); All Representatives (98th percentile).

 

Joined bipartisan bills the 9th least often compared to House Sophomores

Of the 524 bills that Brown cosponsored, 10% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (50th percentile); House Sophomores (15th percentile); House Democrats (53rd percentile); All Representatives (29th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Ranked the 10th top leader compared to House Sophomores

Our 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 the 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Brown’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (75th percentile); House Sophomores (82nd percentile); House Democrats (54th percentile); All Representatives (72nd percentile).

 

Ranked 11th most politically left compared to House Sophomores

Our 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 the 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Brown’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (25th percentile); House Sophomores (18th percentile); House Democrats (50th percentile); All Representatives (27th percentile).

 

Cosponsored the 13th most bills compared to House Sophomores

Brown cosponsored 524 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 Maryland Delegation (62nd percentile); House Sophomores (76th percentile); House Democrats (52nd percentile); All Representatives (73rd percentile).

 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 19th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 5 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 26 of Brown’s 64 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Brown caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Maryland Delegation (86th percentile); House Sophomores (93rd percentile); House Democrats (92nd percentile); All Representatives (94th percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.

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 the 116th Congress) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.