Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman’s 2019 Report Card
Representative
from New Jersey's 12th District
Democrat
Serving Jan 6, 2015 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover Watson Coleman’s record during the 2019 legislative year (Jan 3, 2019-Dec 31, 2019) and compare her to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 18, 2020.
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 Watson Coleman’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 bipartisan cosponsors on the fewest bills compared to New Jersey DelegationIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 3 of Watson Coleman’s 24 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Watson Coleman caucused with in 2019. Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (10th percentile); All Representatives (23rd percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Joined bipartisan bills the least often compared to New Jersey DelegationOf the 531 bills that Watson Coleman cosponsored, 6% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (14th percentile); All Representatives (7th 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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Ranked most politically left compared to New Jersey 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 2019 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Watson Coleman’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (1st percentile); All Representatives (1st percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 3rd least often compared to New Jersey Delegation (tied with 1 other)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Watson Coleman introduced 2 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 1892: Quadrennial Homeland Security Review Technical …; H.Con.Res. 53: Authorizing the use of Emancipation … Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (17th percentile); House Democrats (26th percentile); All Representatives (46th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 24th most bills compared to All RepresentativesWatson Coleman cosponsored 531 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 New Jersey Delegation (92nd percentile); House Democrats (90th percentile); All Representatives (95th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 56th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 13 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.Res. 514: Committing to elevate the voices, …; H.R. 1893: Next Step Act of 2019; H.R. 2112: Refund to Rainy Day Savings …; H.R. 2778: Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine …; H.R. 4278: Federal Jobs Guarantee Development Act … Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (83rd percentile); House Democrats (75th percentile); All Representatives (84th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Introduced the 67th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 5 others)Watson Coleman introduced 24 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (75th percentile); House Democrats (75th percentile); All Representatives (84th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 76th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 20 others)5 of Watson Coleman’s bills and resolutions in 2019 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. 480: Acknowledging the racial disparities in …; H.Res. 747: Acknowledging that the War on …; H.R. 1643: PrEP Assistance Program Act; H.R. 2687: Customer Non-Discrimination Act; H.R. 2778: Healthy Maternity and Obstetric Medicine … Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (50th percentile); House Democrats (64th percentile); All Representatives (78th percentile). |
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Got the 96th most cosponsors on their bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)Watson Coleman’s bills and resolutions had 401 cosponsors in 2019. 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 New Jersey Delegation (50th percentile); House Democrats (62nd percentile); All Representatives (78th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedWatson Coleman introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2019. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (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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Committee PositionsWatson Coleman held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Watson Coleman’s Profile » Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Leadership ScoreOur 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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Watson Coleman’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (42nd percentile); House Democrats (56th percentile); All Representatives (72nd percentile). |
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Missed VotesWatson Coleman missed 1.3% of votes (9 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Watson Coleman’s Profile » Compare to all New Jersey Delegation (58th percentile); All Representatives (43rd 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. |
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 2019) 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.
