Rep. Chellie Pingree’s 2016 Report Card
Representative
from Maine's 1st District
Democrat
Serving Jan 6, 2009 – Jan 3, 2025
These statistics cover Pingree’s record during the 114th Congress (Jan 6, 2015-Jan 3, 2017) and compare her to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Aug 24, 2017. The statistics were updated on Jan 20, 2017 and Aug 24, 2017 to improve how we counted enacted laws. Originally published on Jan 7, 2017.
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 Pingree’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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Cosponsored the 34th most bills compared to All RepresentativesPingree cosponsored 488 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 House Democrats (83rd percentile); All Representatives (92nd percentile). |
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Introduced the 34th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 5 others)Pingree introduced 9 bills and resolutions in the 114th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all House Democrats (17th percentile); All Representatives (19th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 69th most often compared to All RepresentativesIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 488 bills that Pingree cosponsored, 34% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all House Democrats (66th percentile); All Representatives (84th 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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Supported government transparency the 67th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 29 others)GovTrack looked at whether Pingree supported any of 40 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Pingree 4 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Pingree cosponsored H.R. 430: DISCLOSE 2015 Act; H.R. 20: Government By the People Act …; H.R. 2173: Redistricting Reform Act of 2015; H.R. 6340: Presidential Accountability Act Compare to all House Democrats (58th percentile); All Representatives (78th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedPingree introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 114th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all 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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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Pingree introduced 2 bills in the 114th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 1607: Ruth Moore Act of 2015; H.R. 4245: To exempt exportation of certain … Compare to all House Democrats (74th percentile); All Representatives (49th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors3 of Pingree’s bills and resolutions in the 114th 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. 1607: Ruth Moore Act of 2015; H.R. 2553: Coastal Communities Ocean Acidification Act …; H.R. 4184: Food Recovery Act of 2015 Compare to all House Democrats (40th percentile); All Representatives (44th percentile). |
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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 1607: Ruth Moore Act of 2015; H.R. 2228: Safe and Affordable Drugs from …; H.R. 3814: Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act …; H.R. 5298: Food Date Labeling Act of … Compare to all House Democrats (68th percentile); All Representatives (72nd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 5 of Pingree’s 9 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 114th Congress. Compare to all House Democrats (46th percentile); All Representatives (43rd percentile). |
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Committee PositionsPingree 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 Pingree’s Profile » Compare to all House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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CosponsorsPingree’s bills and resolutions had 129 cosponsors in the 114th 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 House Democrats (30th percentile); All Representatives (33rd percentile). |
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Missed VotesPingree missed 1.4% of votes (19 of 1,325 votes) in the 114th Congress. View Pingree’s Profile » Compare to all All Representatives (33rd 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 the 114th Congress) was the 114th Congress (freshmen) or 113th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
