Rep. Donald McEachin’s 2017 Report Card
Representative
from Virginia's 4th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2017 – Nov 28, 2022
These year-end statistics cover McEachin’s record during the 2017 legislative year (Jan 3, 2017-Dec 31, 2017) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 6, 2018.
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 McEachin’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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Introduced the fewest bills compared to Virginia DelegationMcEachin introduced 4 bills and resolutions in 2017. View Bills » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (14th percentile); House Democrats (9th percentile); All Representatives (9th percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the fewest bills compared to Virginia DelegationIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 0 of McEachin’s 4 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2017. Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Got the fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Virginia DelegationMcEachin’s bills and resolutions had 78 cosponsors in 2017. 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 (0th percentile); House Freshmen (57th percentile); House Democrats (26th percentile); All Representatives (30th percentile). |
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Got their bills out of committee the least often compared to Virginia Delegation (tied with 1 other)Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. McEachin introduced 0 bills in 2017 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 2nd most often compared to Virginia DelegationIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 177 bills that McEachin cosponsored, 25% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (82nd percentile); House Freshmen (62nd percentile); House Democrats (37th percentile); All Representatives (66th 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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Was 6th most absent in votes compared to House FreshmenMcEachin missed 4.6% of votes (33 of 710 votes) in 2017. View McEachin’s Profile » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (82nd percentile); House Freshmen (89th percentile); All Representatives (82nd 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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Cosponsored the 26th fewest bills compared to House DemocratsMcEachin cosponsored 177 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 (45th percentile); House Freshmen (59th percentile); House Democrats (13th percentile); All Representatives (47th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedMcEachin introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in 2017. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); 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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Powerful Cosponsors1 of McEachin’s bills and resolutions in 2017 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. 284: Expressing support for honoring Earth … Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (26th percentile); House Democrats (18th percentile); All Representatives (19th 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. 3981: Pollution Transparency Act Compare to all Virginia Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (45th percentile); House Democrats (29th percentile); All Representatives (28th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsMcEachin 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 McEachin’s Profile » Compare to all Virginia Delegation (18th percentile); House Freshmen (78th percentile); House Democrats (40th percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether McEachin supported any of 21 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave McEachin 2 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. McEachin cosponsored H.R. 4396: ME TOO Congress Act; H.Res. 630: Requiring each Member, officer, and … Compare to all Virginia Delegation (45th percentile); House Freshmen (55th percentile); House Democrats (40th 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 2017) was the 115th Congress (freshmen) or 114th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
