Rep. Cheri Bustos’s 2020 Report Card
Representative
from Illinois's 17th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2023
These statistics cover Bustos’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 Bustos’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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Was 2nd most present in votes compared to Illinois Delegation (tied with 1 other)Bustos missed 0.3% of votes (3 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Bustos’s Profile » Compare to all Illinois Delegation (6th percentile); All Representatives (8th 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 least often compared to Illinois Delegation (tied with 1 other)4 of Bustos’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.R. 113: All-American Flag Act; H.R. 1557: No Bonuses in Bankruptcy Act …; H.R. 2543: Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased …; H.R. 4004: Social Determinants Accelerator Act of … Compare to all Illinois Delegation (11th percentile); House Democrats (28th percentile); All Representatives (50th percentile). |
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Introduced the 4th fewest bills compared to Illinois DelegationBustos introduced 24 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Illinois Delegation (17th percentile); House Democrats (37th percentile); All Representatives (57th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 34th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 8 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 113: All-American Flag Act; H.R. 2227: Gold Star Spouses and Spouses …; H.R. 2543: Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased …; H.R. 4555: Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad …; H.R. 4714: America Grows Act of 2019; H.R. 4788: Investing in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act …; H.R. 4871: Protecting Roadside First Responders Act; H.R. 5721: Resources to Prevent Youth Vaping …; H.R. 7159: Crisis Care Improvement and Suicide …; H.R. 7769: RETAIN Act Compare to all Illinois Delegation (67th percentile); House Democrats (84th percentile); All Representatives (90th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Cosponsored the 39th fewest bills compared to House DemocratsBustos cosponsored 364 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 Illinois Delegation (28th percentile); House Democrats (16th percentile); All Representatives (50th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 44th most often compared to House DemocratsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 364 bills that Bustos cosponsored, 14% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Illinois Delegation (61st percentile); House Democrats (81st percentile); All Representatives (45th 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 47th most politically right compared to House DemocratsOur 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 Bustos’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Illinois Delegation (61st percentile); House Democrats (80th percentile); All Representatives (44th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the 59th least often compared to House Democrats (tied with 31 others)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Bustos introduced 3 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 113: All-American Flag Act; H.R. 2227: Gold Star Spouses and Spouses …; H.R. 5123: To designate the facility of … Compare to all Illinois Delegation (17th percentile); House Democrats (24th percentile); All Representatives (47th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedBustos 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. 5123: To designate the facility of … Compare to all Illinois Delegation (39th 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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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 15 of Bustos’s 24 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Bustos caucused with in the 116th Congress. Compare to all Illinois Delegation (39th percentile); House Democrats (60th percentile); All Representatives (73rd percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsBustos 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 Bustos’s Profile » Compare to all Illinois Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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CosponsorsBustos’s bills and resolutions had 296 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 Illinois Delegation (28th percentile); House Democrats (32nd percentile); All Representatives (54th 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 the 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Bustos’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Illinois Delegation (28th percentile); House Democrats (32nd percentile); All Representatives (55th 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.
