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Rep. Lori Trahan’s 2020 Report Card

Representative from Massachusetts's 3rd District
Democrat
Serving Jan 3, 2019 – Jan 3, 2025

These statistics cover Trahan’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare her to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.

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 Trahan’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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Wrote the most laws compared to Massachusetts Delegation

Trahan introduced 3 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th 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. 984: Nashua River Wild and Scenic …; H.R. 1938: Small Employer Retirement Savings Auto-Enrollment …; H.R. 7474: Comprehensive Review of Military Suicide …

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (89th percentile); House Freshmen (81st percentile); House Democrats (76th percentile); All Representatives (84th percentile).

The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill.
 

Was most present in votes compared to Massachusetts Delegation

Trahan missed 0.3% of votes (3 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Trahan’s Profile »

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (19th percentile); All Representatives (8th 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.
 

Got the 2nd fewest cosponsors on their bills compared to Massachusetts Delegation

Trahan’s bills and resolutions had 375 cosponsors in the 116th 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 Massachusetts Delegation (11th percentile); House Freshmen (81st percentile); House Democrats (40th percentile); All Representatives (62nd percentile).

 

Ranked the 2nd bottom/follower compared to Massachusetts Delegation

Our 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 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Trahan’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (11th percentile); House Freshmen (71st percentile); House Democrats (34th percentile); All Representatives (57th percentile).

 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 3rd fewest bills compared to Massachusetts Delegation (tied with 2 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 11 of Trahan’s 22 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Trahan caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (22nd percentile); House Freshmen (58th percentile); House Democrats (38th percentile); All Representatives (57th percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.
 

Ranked 16th most politically left compared to House Freshmen

Our 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 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Trahan’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (56th percentile); House Freshmen (16th percentile); House Democrats (41st percentile); All Representatives (22nd percentile).

 

Joined bipartisan bills the 17th least often compared to House Freshmen

Of the 436 bills that Trahan cosponsored, 8% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (56th percentile); House Freshmen (17th percentile); House Democrats (41st percentile); All Representatives (23rd percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Got bicameral support on the 28th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 24 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 2 of Trahan’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.R. 2139: Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act; H.R. 2734: Safer Prescribing of Controlled Substances …

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (11th percentile); House Freshmen (23rd percentile); House Democrats (11th percentile); All Representatives (25th percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Bills Introduced

Trahan introduced 22 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (33rd percentile); House Freshmen (52nd percentile); House Democrats (31st percentile); All Representatives (52nd percentile).

 

Bills Out of Committee

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Trahan introduced 4 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 984: Nashua River Wild and Scenic …; H.R. 1938: Small Employer Retirement Savings Auto-Enrollment …; H.R. 6020: To require an evaluation by …; H.R. 7474: Comprehensive Review of Military Suicide …

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (44th percentile); House Freshmen (62nd percentile); House Democrats (38th percentile); All Representatives (59th percentile).

 

Powerful Cosponsors

4 of Trahan’s bills and resolutions in the 116th 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. 2734: Safer Prescribing of Controlled Substances …; H.R. 3216: Prevention of Sexual Assault in …; H.R. 3660: Accountability for Migrant Deaths Act …; H.R. 4974: MATE Act of 2019

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (33rd percentile); House Freshmen (58th percentile); House Democrats (28th percentile); All Representatives (50th percentile).

 

Committee Positions

Trahan 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 Trahan’s Profile »

Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (0th percentile); House Freshmen (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

 

Bills Cosponsored

Trahan cosponsored 436 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 Massachusetts Delegation (33rd percentile); House Freshmen (61st percentile); House Democrats (33rd percentile); All Representatives (62nd 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 116th Congress) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.