Rep. Paul Tonko
Representative for New York’s 20th District
pronounced pawl // TONG-koh
Tonko is the representative for New York’s 20th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Tonko is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. He is 74 years old.
He was previously the representative for New York’s 21st congressional district as a Democrat from 2009 to 2012.
![Photo of Rep. Paul Tonko [D-NY20]](/static/legislator-photos/412319-200px.jpeg)
Earmarks
Tonko proposed $22 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $5 million to City of Troy for “Route 2 Multi-Modal Connectivity, Troy, New York, NY-20”
- $3.0 million to Village of Ravena for “Village of Ravena Drinking Water System Improvements”
- $2.0 million to YWCA of Schenectady for “Harbor House Supportive Housing”
View all requests and justifications on Tonko’s website »
View analysis and download spreadsheet from Demand Progress Education Fund »
These are earmark requests which may or may not survive the legislative process to becoming law. Most representatives from both parties requested earmarks for fiscal year 2024. Across representatives who requested earmarks, the median total amount requested for this fiscal year was $39 million.
Earmarks are federal expenditures, tax benefits, or tariff benefits requested by a legislator for a specific entity. Rather than being distributed through a formula or competitive process administered by the executive branch, earmarks may direct spending where it is most needed for the legislator's district. All earmark requests in the House of Representatives are published online for the public to review. We don’t have earmark requests for senators. The fiscal year begins on October 1 of the prior calendar year. Source: Appropriations.house.gov. Background: Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2022 Report Card for Tonko.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Tonko 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 Tonko has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Sep 19, 2023. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Paul Tonko sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Tonko was the primary sponsor of 10 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 6290 (117th): Manufacturing.gov Act
- H.R. 6291 (117th): Micro Act
- H.R. 1754 (116th): Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020
- H.R. 583 (116th): Preventing Illegal Radio Abuse Through Enforcement Act
- H.R. 2041 (116th): Weatherization Enhancement and Local Energy Efficiency Investment and Accountability Act
- H.R. 1328 (116th): ACCESS BROADBAND Act
- H.R. 6870 (115th): To rename the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 in honor of Representative Louise McIntosh Slaughter.
Does 10 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
Tonko sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (36%) Energy (19%) Science, Technology, Communications (16%) Environmental Protection (9%) Transportation and Public Works (7%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (7%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Tonko recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 5457: Carbon Dioxide Removal Research and Development Act of 2023
- H.R. 4946: Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act of 2023
- H.R. 4892: Medicaid Bump Act
- H.R. 4893: Scientific Integrity Act
- H.R. 3736: Extending Access to Addiction Treatment Act
- H.Res. 404: Expressing support for the designation of May 15, 2023, as “Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness …
- H.R. 3073: Community Mental Wellness and Resilience Act of 2023
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2009 to Sep 2023, Tonko missed 55 of 9,348 roll call votes, which is 0.6%. This is better than the median of 1.7% 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, major life events, and running for higher office.
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
