![Photo of Rep. John Sarbanes [D-MD3]](/static/legislator-photos/412212-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Sarbanes 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 Sarbanes has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jan 19, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Enacted Legislation
Sarbanes was the primary sponsor of 5 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 6263: To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to waive cost sharing under the Medicare program for certain visits relating to testing for COVID-19.
- H.R. 1722 (111th): Telework Enhancement Act of 2010
- H.R. 4322 (111th): National Foundation on Physical Fitness and Sports Establishment Act
- H.R. 3218 (110th): To designate a portion of Interstate Route 395 located in Baltimore, Maryland, as “Cal Ripken Way”.
- H.R. 1388 (110th): Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail Act
Does 5 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
Sarbanes sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (53%) Health (24%) Energy (12%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (12%)
Recent Bills
Some of Sarbanes’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 1: For the People Act of 2021
- H.R. 6263: To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to waive cost sharing ...
- H.R. 6037: Fair Access to Legal Counsel Act of 2020
- H.R. 5684: To reauthorize the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ...
- H.R. 5527: 21st Century Power Grid Act
- H.R. 4707: Federal Firefighter Flexibility and Fairness Act
- H.R. 3850: Creating Candidate Capacity to Protect Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2007 to Jan 2021, Sarbanes missed 122 of 9,848 roll call votes, which is 1.2%. This is on par with 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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
