Rep. Brenda Lawrence’s 2020 Report Card
Representative
from Michigan's 14th District
Democrat
Served Jan 6, 2015 – Jan 3, 2023
These statistics cover Lawrence’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare her 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 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 4.3% of votes (41 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Lawrence’s Profile » Compare to all Michigan Delegation (86th percentile); All Representatives (75th 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 influential cosponsors the 3rd most often compared to Michigan Delegation6 of Lawrence’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.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 (53rd percentile); All Representatives (71st percentile). |
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Introduced the 18th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 5 others)Lawrence introduced 13 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Michigan Delegation (36th percentile); House Democrats (7th percentile); All Representatives (24th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 36th least often compared to All RepresentativesOf the 456 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 their bills out of committee the 31st least often compared to House Democrats (tied with 27 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Lawrence introduced 2 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.Res. 354: Celebrating the 100th anniversary of …; H.R. 3976: To designate the facility of … Compare to all Michigan Delegation (29th percentile); House Democrats (13th percentile); All Representatives (32nd percentile). |
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Ranked 47th most politically left compared to All RepresentativesOur 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 Lawrence’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Michigan Delegation (14th percentile); House Democrats (19th percentile); All Representatives (11th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 45th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 10 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 7 of Lawrence’s 13 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Lawrence caucused with in the 116th Congress. Compare to all Michigan Delegation (33rd percentile); House Democrats (19th percentile); All Representatives (35th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Ranked the 107th top leader compared to All RepresentativesOur 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 Lawrence’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Michigan Delegation (71st percentile); House Democrats (59th percentile); All Representatives (75th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedLawrence introduced 1 bill 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. 3976: To designate the facility of … Compare to all Michigan Delegation (29th percentile); House Democrats (25th percentile); All Representatives (37th 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 456 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 (38th percentile); All Representatives (65th percentile). |
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CosponsorsLawrence’s bills and resolutions had 536 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 Michigan Delegation (71st percentile); House Democrats (56th percentile); All Representatives (74th 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 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.
