Rep. Lacy Clay

Former Representative for Missouri’s 1^st District

pronounced LAY-see // klay

Clay was the representative for Missouri’s 1^st congressional district and was a Democrat. He served from 2001 to 2020.

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Photo of Rep. Lacy Clay [D-MO1, 2001-2020]

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Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2020 Report Card for Clay.

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Clay is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2020 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 Clay sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Dec 28, 2020. See full analysis methodology.

Enacted Legislation

Clay was the primary sponsor of 11 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:

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Does 11 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 110^th Congress).

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Clay sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:

Housing and Community Development (28%) Finance and Financial Sector (24%) Government Operations and Politics (21%) Crime and Law Enforcement (14%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (14%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Clay recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Clay voted Aye

H.Res. 657: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2396) to amend the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to update the exception for …

Passed 240/184 on Dec 13, 2017.

Clay voted No

H.R. 3038: Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015, Part II

Passed 312/119 on Jul 15, 2015.

Clay voted Yea

H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015

Passed 338/88 on May 13, 2015.

The USA Freedom Act (H.R. 2048, Pub.L. 114–23) is a U.S. law enacted on June 2, 2015 that restored in modified form several provisions of …

Clay voted Yea

H.R. 83 (113th): Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015

Passed 219/206 on Dec 11, 2014.

This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 [pdf], which was approved by the House on December …

Clay voted Aye

H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015

Passed 319/108 on Sep 17, 2014.

Clay voted Aye

H.R. 6233 (112th): Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012

Passed 223/197 on Aug 2, 2012.

Clay voted Aye

H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

Passed 304/117 on Jun 23, 2011.

The Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (AIA) is a United States federal statute that was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Barack …

Clay voted Nay

S. 3729 (111th): National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010

Passed 304/118 on Sep 29, 2010.

Clay voted Nay

H.Res. 665 (111th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 2920) to reinstitute and update the Pay-As-You-Go requirement of budget …

Passed 243/182 on Jul 22, 2009.

Clay voted No

H.Res. 1126 (110th): Providing for the consideration of the bill (H.R. 2830) to authorize appropriations for the Coast Guard for …

Passed 223/183 on Apr 23, 2008.

Clay voted Nay

S. 1 (110th): Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007

Passed 411/8 on Jul 31, 2007.

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 (Pub.L. 110–81, 121 Stat. 735, enacted September 14, 2007) is a law of the United States …

Missed Votes

From Jan 2001 to Dec 2020, Clay missed 836 of 13,261 roll call votes, which is 6.3%. This is much worse than the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2020. 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.

Show the numbers...

Time Period	Votes Eligible	Missed Votes	Percent	Percentile
2001 Jan-Mar	75	0	0.0%	0^th
2001 Apr-Jun	135	4	3.0%	62^nd
2001 Jul-Sep	149	4	2.7%	62^nd
2001 Oct-Dec	153	13	8.5%	90^th
2002 Jan-Mar	79	9	11.4%	90^th
2002 Apr-Jun	203	33	16.3%	98^th
2002 Jul-Sep	141	20	14.2%	92^nd
2002 Oct-Nov	61	15	24.6%	98^th
2003 Jan-Mar	94	8	8.5%	93^rd
2003 Apr-Jun	239	11	4.6%	80^th
2003 Jul-Sep	193	21	10.9%	93^rd
2003 Oct-Dec	151	37	24.5%	99^th
2004 Jan-Mar	104	16	15.4%	94^th
2004 Apr-Jun	221	19	8.6%	91^st
2004 Jul-Sep	161	25	15.5%	92^nd
2004 Oct-Dec	58	13	22.4%	95^th
2005 Jan-Mar	90	11	12.2%	95^th
2005 Apr-Jun	272	29	10.7%	93^rd
2005 Jul-Sep	146	14	9.6%	94^th
2005 Oct-Dec	163	20	12.3%	95^th
2006 Jan-Mar	81	7	8.6%	87^th
2006 Apr-Jun	276	13	4.7%	83^rd
2006 Jul-Sep	159	10	6.3%	87^th
2006 Nov-Dec	27	3	11.1%	76^th
2007 Jan-Mar	213	4	1.9%	54^th
2007 Apr-Jun	393	22	5.6%	88^th
2007 Jul-Sep	317	31	9.8%	96^th
2007 Oct-Dec	263	8	3.0%	56^th
2008 Jan-Mar	149	6	4.0%	57^th
2008 Apr-Jun	321	4	1.2%	23^rd
2008 Jul-Sep	205	9	4.4%	68^th
2008 Oct-Dec	15	3	20.0%	93^rd
2009 Jan-Mar	174	7	4.0%	76^th
2009 Apr-Jun	303	8	2.6%	61^st
2009 Jul-Sep	268	11	4.1%	77^th
2009 Oct-Dec	246	18	7.3%	85^th
2010 Jan-Mar	195	21	10.8%	93^rd
2010 Apr-Jun	219	15	6.8%	78^th
2010 Jul-Sep	151	3	2.0%	49^th
2010 Nov-Dec	99	8	8.1%	73^rd
2011 Jan-Mar	212	5	2.4%	72^nd
2011 Apr-Jun	281	11	3.9%	84^th
2011 Jul-Sep	247	10	4.0%	79^th
2011 Oct-Dec	208	5	2.4%	54^th
2012 Jan-Mar	151	10	6.6%	82^nd
2012 Apr-Jun	299	29	9.7%	89^th
2012 Jul-Sep	152	0	0.0%	0^th
2012 Nov-Dec	51	3	5.9%	69^th
2013 Jan-Jan 112th Congress	5	1	20.0%	96^th
2013 Jan-Mar	89	0	0.0%	0^th
2013 Apr-Jun	215	6	2.8%	61^st
2013 Jul-Sep	200	7	3.5%	72^nd
2013 Oct-Dec	137	17	12.4%	94^th
2014 Jan-Mar	148	6	4.1%	69^th
2014 Apr-Jun	219	28	12.8%	93^rd
2014 Jul-Sep	147	10	6.8%	86^th
2014 Nov-Dec	49	3	6.1%	84^th
2015 Jan-Mar	144	3	2.1%	48^th
2015 Apr-Jun	244	13	5.3%	85^th
2015 Jul-Sep	139	3	2.2%	64^th
2015 Oct-Dec	177	3	1.7%	62^nd
2016 Jan-Mar	137	3	2.2%	43^rd
2016 Apr-Jun	204	5	2.5%	57^th
2016 Jul-Sep	232	15	6.5%	91^st
2016 Nov-Dec	48	2	4.2%	77^th
2017 Jan-Mar	208	5	2.4%	67^th
2017 Apr-Jun	136	4	2.9%	69^th
2017 Jul-Sep	199	3	1.5%	65^th
2017 Oct-Dec	167	7	4.2%	77^th
2018 Jan-Mar	129	15	11.6%	92^nd
2018 Apr-Jun	184	14	7.6%	86^th
2018 Jul-Sep	102	2	2.0%	53^rd
2018 Nov-Dec	85	9	10.6%	81^st
2019 Jan-Mar	136	13	9.6%	92^nd
2019 Apr-Jun	294	8	2.7%	71^st
2019 Jul-Sep	125	1	0.8%	55^th
2019 Oct-Dec	146	7	4.8%	77^th
2020 Jan-Mar	102	9	8.8%	83^rd
2020 Apr-Jun	31	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Jul-Sep	80	0	0.0%	0^th
2020 Oct-Dec	40	8	20.0%	83^rd

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

Rep. Lacy Clay

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Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Enacted Legislation

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Recently Introduced Bills

Voting Record

Key Votes

Clay voted Aye

Clay voted No

Clay voted Yea

Clay voted Yea

Clay voted Aye

Clay voted Aye

Clay voted Aye

Clay voted Nay

Clay voted Nay

Clay voted No

Clay voted Nay

Missed Votes

Primary Sources