Ruiz is the representative for California’s 36th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Ruiz is next up for reelection in 2020.
![Photo of Rep. Raul Ruiz [D-CA36]](/static/legislator-photos/412519-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2018 Report Card for Ruiz.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Ruiz 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 Ruiz has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 6, 2015 to Nov 8, 2019. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Raul Ruiz sits on the following committees:
-
House Committee on Energy and Commerce
- Vice Chair, Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change
- Member, Subcommittee on Health
- Member, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Enacted Legislation
Ruiz was the primary sponsor of 4 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 1839: Medicaid Services Investment and Accountability Act of 2019
- H.R. 5605: Advancing High Quality Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders in Medicare Act
- H.R. 1183: Wildfire Prevention Act of 2017
- H.R. 387 (114th): Economic Development Through Tribal Land Exchange Act
Does 4 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
Ruiz sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (34%) Armed Forces and National Security (17%) Government Operations and Politics (12%) Native Americans (11%) Labor and Employment (8%) Commerce (6%) International Affairs (6%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (6%)
Recent Bills
Some of Ruiz’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 5022: To amend the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act to increase certain ...
- H.R. 4930: Wounded Veterans Recreation Act
- H.R. 4573: Accessing Higher Education Opportunities Act
- H.R. 4574: Veterans’ Right to Breathe Act
- H.R. 4534: Native Health and Wellness Act of 2019
- H.R. 4495: To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director ...
- H.R. 4452: Grandparent-Grandchild Medical Leave Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2013 to Oct 2019, Ruiz missed 99 of 4,348 roll call votes, which is 2.3%. This is on par with the median of 2.1% 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
