Waters is the representative for California’s 43rd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 3, 2013. Waters is next up for reelection in 2020 and serves until Jan 3, 2021 unless re-elected.
She was previously the representative for California’s 35th congressional district as a Democrat from 1993 to 2012; and the representative for California’s 29th congressional district as a Democrat from 1991 to 1992.
Alleged misconduct & resolution
In 2009 Waters was investigated for a conflict of interest with respect to meetings with a bank in which she had a financial interest. The House Committee on Ethics concluded that Representative Waters' chief of staff was at fault for creating the appearance of conflict, but Waters was not.
| Jul. 24, 2009 | House Office of Congressional Ethics recommended that the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct further review the allegations |
| Sep. 25, 2012 | House Committee on Ethics concluded that Representative Waters' chief of staff was at fault for creating the appearance of conflict, but Waters was not |
![Photo of Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA43]](/static/legislator-photos/400422-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 Report Card for Waters.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Waters 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 liberal–conservative ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Waters has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Jul 2, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Maxine Waters sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Waters was the primary sponsor of 6 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 4634: Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019
- H.R. 3827 (114th): Project-Based Voucher Improvement Act of 2015
- H.R. 5569 (111th): National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2010
- H.R. 4573 (111th): Haiti Debt Relief and Earthquake Recovery Act of 2010
- H.R. 1116 (111th): Honest FHA Originator Act of 2009
- H.R. 289 (109th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 8200 South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles, California, as the Sergeant First Class John Marshall ...
Does 6 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
Waters sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Finance and Financial Sector (23%) Housing and Community Development (22%) Health (19%) Education (10%) Crime and Law Enforcement (9%) Armed Forces and National Security (6%) International Affairs (6%) Transportation and Public Works (5%)
Recent Bills
Some of Waters’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 7301: Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020
- H.J.Res. 90: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, ...
- H.R. 7193: Justice for Exonerees Act
- H.R. 7194: To eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for all drug offenses.
- H.R. 7084: Emergency Housing Voucher Act of 2020
- H.R. 7062: Affordable Insulin for the COVID-19 Emergency Act
- H.R. 6321: Financial Protections and Assistance for America’s Consumers, States, Businesses, and Vulnerable Populations Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1991 to Jul 2020, Waters missed 1,364 of 18,927 roll call votes, which is 7.2%. This is much worse than the median of 2.2% 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
