Rep. John Garamendi
Representative for California’s 8th District
pronounced jon // ga-ruh-MEN-dee
Garamendi is the representative for California’s 8th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2023. Garamendi is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. He is 78 years old.
He was previously the representative for California’s 3rd congressional district as a Democrat from 2013 to 2022; and the representative for California’s 10th congressional district as a Democrat from 2009 to 2012.
![Photo of Rep. John Garamendi [D-CA8]](/static/legislator-photos/412382-200px.jpeg)
Earmarks
Garamendi proposed $47 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $6 million to City of Hercules for “Hercules Hub (Multi-Modal Transportation Station)”
- $5 million to Solano Transportation Authority for “State Route 37 / Fairgrounds Drive Interchange Improvement Project”
- $5 million to City of Benicia for “Benicia Boatyard Remediation & Debris Removal Project”
View all requests and justifications on Garamendi’s website »
View analysis and download spreadsheet from Demand Progress Education Fund »
These are earmark requests which may or may not survive the legislative process to becoming law. Most representatives from both parties requested earmarks for fiscal year 2024. Across representatives who requested earmarks, the median total amount requested for this fiscal year was $39 million.
Earmarks are federal expenditures, tax benefits, or tariff benefits requested by a legislator for a specific entity. Rather than being distributed through a formula or competitive process administered by the executive branch, earmarks may direct spending where it is most needed for the legislator's district. All earmark requests in the House of Representatives are published online for the public to review. We don’t have earmark requests for senators. The fiscal year begins on October 1 of the prior calendar year. Source: Appropriations.house.gov. Background: Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2022 Report Card for Garamendi.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Garamendi 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 Garamendi has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Sep 30, 2023. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
John Garamendi sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Garamendi was the primary sponsor of 8 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 5059 (117th): Make It in America Act
- H.R. 104 (117th): To authorize the Maritime Administrator to use certain appropriated funds to purchase duplicate medals authorized under Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of …
- H.R. 5671 (116th): Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2020
- H.R. 357 (116th): Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area Act
- H.R. 6206 (115th): Coast Guard Blue Technology Center of Expertise Act
- H.R. 5326 (115th): Maritime Technical Corrections Act of 2018
- H.R. 3692 (114th): Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2015
Does 8 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
Garamendi sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Transportation and Public Works (33%) Armed Forces and National Security (29%) Environmental Protection (8%) Water Resources Development (7%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (7%) International Affairs (6%) Government Operations and Politics (6%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Garamendi recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 5710: Student Loan Refinancing and Recalculation Act
- H.R. 4908: Expedited Federal Permitting for California Act
- H.R. 4613: American Food for American Schools Act of 2023
- H.R. 4409: Stop Pentagon Price Gouging Act
- H.R. 4064: Bridge Corrosion Prevention and Repair Act of 2023
- H.R. 3908: No Corporate Tax Exemption for Professional Sports Act
- H.R. 3854: Manufacturing Partnership Improvement Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Nov 2009 to Oct 2023, Garamendi missed 309 of 8,610 roll call votes, which is 3.6%. This is worse than the median of 1.7% 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, major life events, and running for higher office.
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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
