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Rep. Paul Tonko

Representative for New York’s 20th District

pronounced pawl // TONG-koh

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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 2018.

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]

Analysis

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2017 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 liberal–conservative 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. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

Committee Membership

Paul Tonko sits on the following committees:

Enacted Legislation

Tonko was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:

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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:

Energy (23%) Armed Forces and National Security (17%) Health (17%) Taxation (13%) Environmental Protection (10%) Water Resources Development (7%) Education (7%) Science, Technology, Communications (7%)

Recent Bills

Some of Tonko’s most recently sponsored bills include...

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Voting Record

Key Votes

Tonko’s Vote Vote Description
Yea H.R. 5797: Individuals in Medicaid Deserve Care that is Appropriate and Responsible in its Execution Act
Jun 20, 2018. Passed 261/155.
H.R. 5797 allows state Medicaid programs to remove the Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion for Medicaid beneficiaries aged 21 to 64 with an opioid use disorder for fiscal years 2019 to 2023. By removing the exclusion, Medicaid would pay for up to 30 total ...
No H.R. 3038: Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015, Part II
Jul 15, 2015. Passed 312/119.
No H.R. 2146: Defending Public Safety Employees’ Retirement Act
Jun 18, 2015. Passed 218/208.
This vote made H.R. 2146 the vehicle for passage of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal currently being negotiated. H.R. 2146 was originally introduced as a bill to address issues with retirement funds of federal law enforcement officers and firefighters. ...
Yea H.R. 2048: Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015
May 13, 2015. Passed 338/88.
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 the Patriot Act, which had expired the day before. The act imposes some new limits on the bulk collection of ...
No H.R. 1731: National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015
Apr 23, 2015. Passed 355/63.
Nay H.R. 83 (113th): Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015
Dec 11, 2014. Passed 219/206.
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 11, 2014 and by the Senate on December 13, 2014. The bill was originally introduced on January 3, 2013 by ...
No H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015
Sep 17, 2014. Passed 319/108.
No H.R. 10 (113th): Success and Opportunity through Quality Charter Schools Act
May 9, 2014. Passed 360/45.
No H.R. 2218 (112th): Empowering Parents through Quality Charter Schools Act
Sep 13, 2011. Passed 365/54.
Aye H.R. 1249 (112th): Leahy-Smith America Invents Act
Jun 23, 2011. Passed 304/117.
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 Obama on September 16, 2011. The law represents the most significant change to the U.S. patent system since 1952, and ...

Missed Votes

From Jan 2009 to Jul 2018, Tonko missed 46 of 6,874 roll call votes, which is 0.7%. This is better than the median of 2.4% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

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Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: