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Rep. Jim Costa’s 2015 Report Card

Representative from California's 16th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2023

These year-end statistics cover Costa’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 Costa’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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Was 12th most absent in votes compared to Competitive House Seats

Costa missed 2.6% of votes (18 of 696 votes) in 2015. View Costa’s Profile »

Compare to all California Delegation (60th percentile); Competitive House Seats (78th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (56th percentile); All Representatives (65th 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.
 

Got the 17th fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to House Democrats

Costa’s bills and resolutions had 18 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 California Delegation (13th percentile); Competitive House Seats (16th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (9th percentile); House Democrats (8th percentile); All Representatives (9th percentile).

 

Joined bipartisan bills the 19th 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 139 bills that Costa cosponsored, 45% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all California Delegation (96th percentile); Competitive House Seats (87th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (94th percentile); House Democrats (91st percentile); All Representatives (96th percentile).

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

Cosponsored the 25th fewest bills compared to House Democrats

Costa cosponsored 139 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 California Delegation (26th percentile); Competitive House Seats (29th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (33rd percentile); House Democrats (13th percentile); All Representatives (31st percentile).

 

Laws Enacted

Costa 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 California Delegation (0th percentile); Competitive House Seats (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (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.
 

Bills Introduced

Costa introduced 2 bills and resolutions in 2015. View Bills »

Compare to all California Delegation (0th percentile); Competitive House Seats (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (1st percentile); House Democrats (1st percentile); All Representatives (2nd percentile).

 

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Costa introduced 0 bills in 2015 that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Compare to all California Delegation (0th percentile); Competitive House Seats (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Powerful Cosponsors

0 of Costa’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.

Compare to all California Delegation (0th percentile); Competitive House Seats (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Working with the Senate

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 1 of Costa’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. 2327: Hmong Veterans’ Service Recognition Act

Compare to all California Delegation (30th percentile); Competitive House Seats (35th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (23rd percentile); House Democrats (30th percentile); All Representatives (29th percentile).

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

Committee Positions

Costa 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 Costa’s Profile »

Compare to all California Delegation (34th percentile); Competitive House Seats (53rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (17th percentile); House Democrats (38th percentile); All Representatives (38th percentile).

 

Government Transparency

GovTrack looked at whether Costa supported any of 28 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Costa 1 point, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills.

Costa cosponsored H.R. 598: Taxpayers Right-To-Know Act

Compare to all California Delegation (28th percentile); Competitive House Seats (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (41st percentile); House Democrats (9th percentile); All Representatives (43rd 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.