Rep. Joe Garcia’s 2014 Report Card
Representative
from Florida's 26th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2015
These statistics cover Garcia’s record during the 113th Congress (Jan 3, 2013-Jan 2, 2015) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 12, 2015. Although Rep. Suzan DelBene [D-WA1], Rep. Thomas Massie [R-KY4], Rep. Donald Payne [D-NJ10], and Sen. Brian Schatz [D-HI] served in the 112th Congress, they took office within the last two months of the 112th Congress and here are grouped with other freshmen for the 113th Congress.
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 Garcia’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 most often compared to House FreshmenIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 239 bills that Garcia cosponsored, 52% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Florida Delegation (96th percentile); Competitive House Seats (89th percentile); House Freshmen (99th percentile); House Democrats (95th percentile); All Representatives (97th 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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Got the 9th most cosponsors on their bills compared to House FreshmenGarcia’s bills and resolutions had 308 cosponsors in the 113th 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 (59th percentile); Competitive House Seats (68th percentile); House Freshmen (89th percentile); House Democrats (71st percentile); All Representatives (69th percentile). |
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Ranked the 10th top leader compared to House FreshmenOur 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 113th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Garcia’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Florida Delegation (56th percentile); Competitive House Seats (64th percentile); House Freshmen (88th percentile); House Democrats (79th percentile); All Representatives (62nd percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 8th least often compared to Competitive House Seats (tied with 5 others)1 of Garcia’s bills and resolutions in the 113th 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. 15: Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and … Compare to all Florida Delegation (26th percentile); Competitive House Seats (16th percentile); House Freshmen (20th percentile); House Democrats (14th percentile); All Representatives (15th percentile). |
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Was 15th most absent in votes compared to House FreshmenGarcia missed 3.5% of votes (42 of 1,204 votes) in the 113th Congress. View Garcia’s Profile » Compare to all Florida Delegation (67th percentile); Competitive House Seats (82nd percentile); House Freshmen (82nd 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. |
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Ranked 18th most politically right compared to House DemocratsOur 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 113th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Garcia’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Florida Delegation (33rd percentile); Competitive House Seats (41st percentile); House Freshmen (49th percentile); House Democrats (91st percentile); All Representatives (43rd percentile). |
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Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 28th highest % of bills compared to House DemocratsIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 45% of Garcia’s 11 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 113th Congress. Compare to all Florida Delegation (53rd percentile); Competitive House Seats (52nd percentile); House Freshmen (67th percentile); House Democrats (80th percentile); All Representatives (68th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Cosponsored the 52nd fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 2 others)Garcia cosponsored 239 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 (33rd percentile); Competitive House Seats (30th percentile); House Freshmen (49th percentile); House Democrats (25th percentile); All Representatives (46th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedGarcia introduced 1 bill that became law in the 113th 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. 2678: To designate the facility of … Compare to all Florida Delegation (74th percentile); Competitive House Seats (61st percentile); House Freshmen (68th percentile); House Democrats (72nd percentile); All Representatives (65th 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 IntroducedGarcia introduced 11 bills and resolutions in the 113th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Florida Delegation (44th percentile); Competitive House Seats (30th percentile); House Freshmen (57th percentile); House Democrats (32nd percentile); All Representatives (36th percentile). |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Garcia introduced 1 bill in the 113th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 2678: To designate the facility of … Compare to all Florida Delegation (41st percentile); Competitive House Seats (39th percentile); House Freshmen (46th percentile); House Democrats (58th percentile); All Representatives (38th percentile). |
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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Compare to all Florida Delegation (0th percentile); Competitive House Seats (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Committee PositionsGarcia held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Garcia’s Profile » Compare to all Florida Delegation (0th percentile); Competitive House Seats (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Garcia supported any of 12 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Garcia 0 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Compare to all Florida Delegation (0th percentile); Competitive House Seats (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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 the 113th Congress) was the 113th Congress (freshmen) or 112th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
