Rep. Gus Bilirakis’s 2020 Report Card

Ranked 10^th most politically right compared to Serving 10+ Years

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 Bilirakis’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Florida Delegation (78^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (95^th percentile); House Republicans (82^nd percentile); All Representatives (92^nd percentile).

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 12^th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 3 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 17 of Bilirakis’s 25 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Bilirakis caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Florida Delegation (81^st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (77^th percentile); House Republicans (92^nd percentile); All Representatives (80^th percentile).

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

Cosponsored the 18^th most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Bilirakis 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 Florida Delegation (37^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (49^th percentile); House Republicans (90^th percentile); All Representatives (50^th percentile).

Got influential cosponsors the 16^th most often compared to House Republicans (tied with 15 others)

5 of Bilirakis’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. 303: Retired Pay Restoration Act; H.R. 2221: Fry Scholarship Improvement Act of …; H.R. 3504: Ryan Kules and Paul Benne …; H.R. 5750: Streamlining GI Bill Processing Act …; H.R. 8506: TEAM Act of 2020

Compare to all Florida Delegation (63^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (51^st percentile); House Republicans (84^th percentile); All Representatives (61^st percentile).

Got their bills out of committee the 17^th most often compared to House Republicans (tied with 14 others)

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

Those bills were: H.R. 2628: VET CARE Act of 2019; H.R. 3504: Ryan Kules and Paul Benne …; H.R. 4861: Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment …; H.R. 5750: Streamlining GI Bill Processing Act …

Compare to all Florida Delegation (67^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (55^th percentile); House Republicans (84^th percentile); All Representatives (59^th percentile).

Introduced the 31^st most bills compared to House Republicans (tied with 1 other)

Bilirakis introduced 25 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (63^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (59^th percentile); House Republicans (84^th percentile); All Representatives (61^st percentile).

Ranked the 32^nd top leader compared to House Republicans

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 Bilirakis’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Florida Delegation (67^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (48^th percentile); House Republicans (84^th percentile); All Representatives (56^th percentile).

Got the 40^th most cosponsors on their bills compared to House Republicans

Bilirakis’s bills and resolutions had 287 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 Florida Delegation (59^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (46^th percentile); House Republicans (80^th percentile); All Representatives (53^rd percentile).

Joined bipartisan bills the 45^th most often compared to All Representatives

In this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 364 bills that Bilirakis cosponsored, 53% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (85^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (88^th percentile); House Republicans (77^th percentile); All Representatives (90^th percentile).

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

Got bicameral support on the 110^th fewest bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 59 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 2 of Bilirakis’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. 3462: SHELTER Act; H.R. 3613: SAFE Hospitals Act of 2019

Compare to all Florida Delegation (33^rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25^th percentile); House Republicans (42^nd percentile); All Representatives (25^th percentile).

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

Laws Enacted

Bilirakis 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. 3504: Ryan Kules and Paul Benne …

Compare to all Florida Delegation (48^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38^th percentile); House Republicans (51^st 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.

Committee Positions

Bilirakis 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 Bilirakis’s Profile »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (48^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (19^th percentile); House Republicans (44^th percentile); All Representatives (42^nd percentile).

Missed Votes

Bilirakis missed 3.7% of votes (35 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Bilirakis’s Profile »

Compare to all Florida Delegation (44^th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (68^th percentile); All Representatives (70^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.