Rep. Donald Beyer’s 2020 Report Card

Joined bipartisan bills the 2^nd least often compared to Virginia Delegation

Of the 571 bills that Beyer cosponsored, 7% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (9^th percentile); House Democrats (31^st 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.

Ranked 3^rd most politically left compared to Virginia 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 the 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Beyer’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (18^th percentile); House Democrats (36^th percentile); All Representatives (20^th percentile).

Got bicameral support on the 23^rd most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 2 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 12 of Beyer’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. 1180: End Shutdowns Act; H.R. 1442: PROVE Act; H.R. 1606: Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection Act; H.R. 1960: Healthy Climate and Family Security …; H.R. 2795: Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act of …; H.R. 3832: Legacy IRA Act; H.R. 5043: Millionaires Surtax Act; H.R. 5141: Humane Cosmetics Act of 2019; H.R. 7153: Law Enforcement Identification Act; H.R. 7821: Worker Relief and Security Act …; H.R. 8782: Keeping All Students Safe Act; H.R. 8822: AIM Act of 2020

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (82^nd percentile); House Democrats (90^th percentile); All Representatives (94^th percentile).

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

Introduced the 40^th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)

Beyer introduced 46 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (91^st percentile); House Democrats (85^th percentile); All Representatives (91^st percentile).

Got influential cosponsors the 39^th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 6 others)

11 of Beyer’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. 67: Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness …; H.R. 590: Freedom of Religion Act of …; H.R. 1442: PROVE Act; H.R. 2795: Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act of …; H.R. 3227: SEA FUEL Act of 2019; H.R. 4000: Fair Representation Act; H.R. 5141: Humane Cosmetics Act of 2019; H.R. 5450: Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act; H.R. 6600: Point-of-Care Testing Prize Competitions Act …; H.R. 7153: Law Enforcement Identification Act; H.R. 8782: Keeping All Students Safe Act

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (73^rd percentile); House Democrats (82^nd percentile); All Representatives (90^th percentile).

Got the 42^nd most cosponsors on their bills compared to All Representatives

Beyer’s bills and resolutions had 949 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 Virginia Delegation (73^rd percentile); House Democrats (83^rd percentile); All Representatives (90^th percentile).

Ranked the 47^th top leader compared to All Representatives

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 the 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Beyer’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (73^rd percentile); House Democrats (81^st percentile); All Representatives (89^th percentile).

Cosponsored the 96^th most bills compared to All Representatives

Beyer cosponsored 571 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 Virginia Delegation (64^th percentile); House Democrats (60^th percentile); All Representatives (78^th percentile).

Laws Enacted

Beyer 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. 3227: SEA FUEL Act of 2019

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (27^th percentile); House Democrats (25^th percentile); All Representatives (37^th 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 Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Beyer introduced 4 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 2795: Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act of …; H.R. 3227: SEA FUEL Act of 2019; H.R. 3439: PATIENTS Act; H.R. 4585: Campaign to Prevent Suicide Act

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (45^th percentile); House Democrats (38^th percentile); All Representatives (59^th percentile).

Writing Bipartisan Bills

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 15 of Beyer’s 46 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Beyer caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (64^th percentile); House Democrats (60^th percentile); All Representatives (73^rd percentile).

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

Committee Positions

Beyer 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 Beyer’s Profile »

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0^th percentile); House Democrats (0^th percentile); All Representatives (0^th percentile).

Missed Votes

Beyer missed 2.7% of votes (26 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Beyer’s Profile »

Compare to all Virginia Delegation (64^th percentile); All Representatives (58^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.