Capps was the representative for California’s 24th congressional district and was a Democrat. She served from 2013 to 2016.
She was previously the representative for California’s 23rd congressional district as a Democrat from 2003 to 2012; and the representative for California’s 22nd congressional district as a Democrat from 1998 to 2002.
![Photo of Rep. Lois Capps [D-CA24, 2013-2016]](/static/legislator-photos/400062-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2016 Report Card for Capps.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Capps is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2016 positioned according to our liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Capps sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 5, 2011 to Dec 30, 2016. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Capps was the primary sponsor of 7 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 3218 (114th): Designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1221 State Street, Suite 12, Santa Barbara, California, as the “Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty ...
- H.R. 5249 (114th): STOP Pain Act
- H.R. 5562 (113th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 801 West Ocean Avenue in Lompoc, California, as the “Federal Correctional Officer Scott J. Williams ...
- H.R. 698 (113th): HIV Organ Policy Equity Act
- H.R. 225 (113th): National Pediatric Research Network Act of 2013
- H.R. 1246 (111th): Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Act of 2009
- H.R. 1648 (108th): Carpinteria and Montecito Water Distribution Systems Conveyance Act of 2004
Does 7 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
Capps sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (43%) Crime and Law Enforcement (13%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (11%) Environmental Protection (9%) Government Operations and Politics (7%) Energy (6%) Armed Forces and National Security (6%) Agriculture and Food (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Capps’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 6121 (114th): Climate Resiliency, Security, and Source Water Protection Act
- H.R. 5249 (114th): STOP Pain Act
- H.R. 4621 (114th): Hallways to Health Act
- H.R. 4280 (114th): To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to Colonel ...
- H.Res. 470 (114th): Congratulating the National Institute of Nursing Research on the occasion of its ...
- H.R. 3565 (114th): California Coastal National Monument Expansion Act
- H.R. 3218 (114th): Designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1221 ...
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Mar 1998 to Dec 2016, Capps missed 320 of 12,805 roll call votes, which is 2.5%. This is on par with the median of 2.4% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2016. 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
