Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s 2019 Report Card

Got bicameral support on the 2^nd most bills compared to Florida Delegation

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 7 of Wasserman Schultz’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.R. 1683: No Stolen Trademarks Honored in …; H.R. 1705: Jaime’s Law; H.R. 2111: PROTECT Act; H.R. 2777: Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screenings …; H.R. 4078: EARLY Act Reauthorization of 2019; H.R. 5265: Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of …; H.R. 5531: Fair Housing for Domestic Violence …

Compare to all Florida Delegation (93^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (87^th percentile); House Democrats (85^th percentile); All Representatives (91^st percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.

Ranked 3^rd most politically left compared to Florida Delegation

Our 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 2019 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Wasserman Schultz’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Florida Delegation (7^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (16^th percentile); House Democrats (19^th percentile); All Representatives (10^th percentile).

Joined bipartisan bills the 4^th least often compared to Florida Delegation

Of the 413 bills that Wasserman Schultz cosponsored, 7% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (11^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25^th percentile); House Democrats (32^nd percentile); All Representatives (17^th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.

Got the 6^th most cosponsors on their bills compared to Florida Delegation

Wasserman Schultz’s bills and resolutions had 311 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 Florida Delegation (78^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (54^th percentile); House Democrats (51^st percentile); All Representatives (69^th percentile).

Ranked the 6^th top leader compared to Florida Delegation

Our 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 2019 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Wasserman Schultz’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Florida Delegation (78^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (53^rd percentile); House Democrats (50^th percentile); All Representatives (69^th percentile).

Was 32^nd most absent in votes compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 1 other)

Wasserman Schultz missed 3.7% of votes (26 of 701 votes) in 2019. View Wasserman Schultz’s Profile »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (59^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (78^th percentile); All Representatives (76^th 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.

Cosponsored the 65^th most bills compared to All Representatives

Wasserman Schultz cosponsored 413 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 Florida Delegation (85^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (81^st percentile); House Democrats (73^rd percentile); All Representatives (85^th percentile).

Got influential cosponsors the 76^th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 20 others)

5 of Wasserman Schultz’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.R. 1705: Jaime’s Law; H.R. 2217: Families, Not Facilities Act of …; H.R. 2777: Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screenings …; H.R. 4077: Trauma-Informed Modernization of Eldercare for …; H.R. 4078: EARLY Act Reauthorization of 2019

Compare to all Florida Delegation (78^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (66^th percentile); House Democrats (64^th percentile); All Representatives (78^th percentile).

Laws Enacted

Wasserman Schultz introduced 1 bill 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. View Enacted Bills »

Those bills were: H.R. 2745: Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and …

Compare to all Florida Delegation (70^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (53^rd percentile); House Democrats (57^th percentile); All Representatives (63^rd 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.

Bills Introduced

Wasserman Schultz introduced 15 bills and resolutions in 2019. View Bills »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (48^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (49^th percentile); House Democrats (44^th percentile); All Representatives (60^th percentile).

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Wasserman Schultz introduced 2 bills in 2019 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 1477: Russian-Venezuelan Threat Mitigation Act; H.R. 2745: Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and …

Compare to all Florida Delegation (52^nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (36^th percentile); House Democrats (26^th percentile); All Representatives (46^th percentile).

Writing Bipartisan Bills

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 8 of Wasserman Schultz’s 15 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Wasserman Schultz caucused with in 2019.

Compare to all Florida Delegation (59^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (52^nd percentile); House Democrats (45^th percentile); All Representatives (62^nd percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.

Committee Positions

Wasserman Schultz held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Wasserman Schultz’s Profile »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (48^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (14^th percentile); House Democrats (40^th percentile); All Representatives (42^nd percentile).