Rep. Brenda Lawrence’s 2019 Report Card
Representative
from Michigan's 14th District
Democrat
Served Jan 6, 2015 – Jan 3, 2023
These year-end statistics cover Lawrence’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 Lawrence’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 bicameral support on the fewest bills compared to Michigan Delegation (tied with 1 other)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Compare to all Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Was 2nd most absent in votes compared to Michigan DelegationLawrence missed 4.4% of votes (31 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Lawrence’s Profile » Compare to all Michigan Delegation (86th percentile); All Representatives (81st 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 their bills out of committee the 4th least often compared to Michigan Delegation (tied with 2 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Lawrence introduced 1 bill in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.Res. 354: Celebrating the 100th anniversary of … Compare to all Michigan Delegation (21st percentile); House Democrats (12th percentile); All Representatives (26th percentile). |
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Introduced the 23rd fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 7 others)Lawrence introduced 9 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills » Compare to all Michigan Delegation (36th percentile); House Democrats (9th percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 36th least often compared to All RepresentativesOf the 287 bills that Lawrence cosponsored, 6% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Michigan Delegation (8th percentile); House Democrats (15th percentile); All Representatives (8th 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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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 33rd fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 19 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 4 of Lawrence’s 9 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Lawrence caucused with in 2019. Compare to all Michigan Delegation (15th percentile); House Democrats (14th percentile); All Representatives (30th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Got influential cosponsors the 45th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 30 others)6 of Lawrence’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. 272: Affirming that all men and …; H.Res. 354: Celebrating the 100th anniversary of …; H.R. 852: Get the Lead Out of …; H.R. 1003: Aretha Franklin Congressional Gold Medal …; H.R. 1417: Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and …; H.R. 2262: Environmental Health Workforce Act of … Compare to all Michigan Delegation (79th percentile); House Democrats (72nd percentile); All Representatives (83rd percentile). |
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Got the 78th most cosponsors on their bills compared to All RepresentativesLawrence’s bills and resolutions had 467 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 Michigan Delegation (79th percentile); House Democrats (69th percentile); All Representatives (82nd percentile). |
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Laws EnactedLawrence 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 Michigan 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 PositionsLawrence 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 Lawrence’s Profile » Compare to all Michigan Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Bills CosponsoredLawrence cosponsored 287 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 Michigan Delegation (57th percentile); House Democrats (35th percentile); All Representatives (63rd 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 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.
