Lawrence is the representative for Michigan’s 14th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 6, 2015. Lawrence is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
![Photo of Rep. Brenda Lawrence [D-MI14]](/static/legislator-photos/412638-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2020 Report Card for Lawrence.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Lawrence is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Lawrence has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to May 12, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Brenda Lawrence sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Lawrence was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 3976 (116th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 12711 East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, as the “Aretha Franklin Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 5028 (114th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 10721 E Jefferson Ave in Detroit, Michigan, as the “Mary E. McCoy Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 1900 (114th): National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2015
Does 3 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Lawrence sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Environmental Protection (17%) Education (17%) Taxation (14%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (14%) Health (11%) Government Operations and Politics (11%) Families (8%) Armed Forces and National Security (8%)
Recent Bills
Some of Lawrence’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 2661: To prioritize educating and training for existing and new environmental health professionals.
- H.R. 2627: To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the period of ...
- H.R. 2521: To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a pilot program to ...
- H.Res. 284: Affirming that all men and women are created equal.
- H.R. 2233: To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Aretha Franklin in recognition of ...
- H.R. 2033: To amend subpart 1 of part B of title IV of the Social ...
- H.R. 1352: Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2021
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2015 to May 2021, Lawrence missed 98 of 3,631 roll call votes, which is 2.7%. This is on par with the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
