Rep. James “Jim” McGovern’s 2015 Report Card
Representative
from Massachusetts's 2nd District
Democrat
Serving Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2025
These year-end statistics cover McGovern’s record during the 2015 legislative year (Jan 6, 2015-Dec 31, 2015) and compare him to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 9, 2016.
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 McGovern’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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Joined bipartisan bills the least often compared to Massachusetts DelegationOf the 530 bills that McGovern cosponsored, 22% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (54th percentile); House Democrats (19th percentile); Safe House Seats (61st percentile); All Representatives (60th 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 most politically left compared to Massachusetts DelegationOur 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 2015 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from McGovern’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (3rd percentile); House Democrats (4th percentile); Safe House Seats (2nd percentile); All Representatives (2nd percentile). |
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Got the 2nd most cosponsors on their bills compared to Massachusetts DelegationMcGovern’s bills and resolutions had 211 cosponsors in 2015. 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 Massachusetts Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (59th percentile); House Democrats (63rd percentile); Safe House Seats (65th percentile); All Representatives (67th percentile). |
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Ranked the 2nd top leader compared to Massachusetts DelegationOur 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 2015 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from McGovern’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (47th percentile); House Democrats (63rd percentile); Safe House Seats (51st percentile); All Representatives (52nd percentile). |
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Was 3rd most present in votes compared to Massachusetts DelegationMcGovern missed 1.3% of votes (9 of 704 votes) in 2015. View McGovern’s Profile » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (30th percentile); Safe House Seats (38th percentile); All Representatives (39th 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 6th most bills compared to All RepresentativesMcGovern cosponsored 530 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 Massachusetts Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (96th percentile); House Democrats (97th percentile); Safe House Seats (98th percentile); All Representatives (99th percentile). |
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Supported government transparency the 13th most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 4 others)GovTrack looked at whether McGovern supported any of 28 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave McGovern 5 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. McGovern cosponsored H.R. 367: Campaign Sunlight Act of 2015; H.R. 430: DISCLOSE 2015 Act; H.R. 425: Stop Super PAC-Candidate Coordination Act; H.R. 20: Government By the People Act …; H.R. 653: FOIA Act Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (95th percentile); House Democrats (93rd percentile); Safe House Seats (96th percentile); All Representatives (96th percentile). |
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Got bicameral support on the 40th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 26 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.Res. 394: Condemning Joseph Kony and the …; H.R. 157: Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act …; H.R. 523: Prescribe A Book Act; H.R. 3445: Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry … Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (84th percentile); House Democrats (85th percentile); Safe House Seats (84th percentile); All Representatives (85th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Laws EnactedMcGovern introduced 0 bills that became law in 2015. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). A bill or joint resolution is considered enacted if it or an exactly identical bill to it is enacted as law. We only consider bills that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Bills IntroducedMcGovern introduced 10 bills and resolutions in 2015. View Bills » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (67th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (39th percentile); House Democrats (44th percentile); Safe House Seats (46th percentile); All Representatives (48th percentile). |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. McGovern introduced 0 bills in 2015 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Powerful Cosponsors3 of McGovern’s bills and resolutions in 2015 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. 394: Condemning Joseph Kony and the …; H.R. 2493: Wounded Warrior Service Dog Act …; H.J.Res. 23: Proposing an amendment to the … Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (54th percentile); House Democrats (57th percentile); Safe House Seats (61st percentile); All Representatives (62nd percentile). |
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Committee PositionsMcGovern 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 McGovern’s Profile » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (17th percentile); House Democrats (38th percentile); Safe House Seats (36th percentile); All Representatives (38th 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 2015) was the 114th Congress (freshmen) or 113th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
