Panetta is the representative for California’s 20th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2017. Panetta is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
![Photo of Rep. Jimmy Panetta [D-CA20]](/static/legislator-photos/412685-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2020 Report Card for Panetta.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Panetta is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Panetta has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Mar 3, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Enacted Legislation
Panetta was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 7712 (116th): Special Operations and International Security Education Act
- H.R. 7713 (116th): NOPP Revitalization Act
- H.R. 3749 (116th): Legal Services for Homeless Veterans Act
Does 3 not sound like a lot? Very few bills are ever enacted — most legislators sponsor only a handful that are signed into law. But there are other legislative activities that we don’t track that are also important, including offering amendments, committee work and oversight of the other branches, and constituent services.
We consider a bill enacted if one of the following is true: a) it is enacted itself, b) it has a companion bill in the other chamber (as identified by Congress) which was enacted, or c) if at least about half of its provisions were incorporated into bills that were enacted (as determined by an automated text analysis, applicable beginning with bills in the 110th Congress).
Bills Sponsored
Issue Areas
Panetta sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Armed Forces and National Security (27%) International Affairs (19%) Taxation (17%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (12%) Health (8%) Immigration (6%) Crime and Law Enforcement (6%) Agriculture and Food (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Panetta’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 1018: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the differential wage ...
- H.R. 1019: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a credit for ...
- H.R. 771: SOS Act of 2021
- H.R. 583: Green Bus Tax Credit Act of 2021
- H.R. 479: California Central Coast Conservation Act
- H.R. 9020 (116th): PROVIDE Act
- H.R. 8817 (116th): Preserving Charitable Incentives Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2017 to Mar 2021, Panetta missed 4 of 2,226 roll call votes, which is 0.2%. This is better than the median of 2.0% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- unitedstates/congress-legislators, a community project gathering congressional information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- House Democratic Caucus for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
