Ruiz is the representative for California’s 36th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Ruiz’s current term ends on Jan 3, 2021.
![Photo of Rep. Raul Ruiz [D-CA36]](/static/legislator-photos/412519-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2019 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 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 27, 2020. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Raul Ruiz sits on the following committees:
-
House Committee on Energy and Commerce
- Environment and Climate Change subcommittee Vice Chair
Health, Oversight and Investigations subcommittees
Enacted Legislation
Ruiz was the primary sponsor of 5 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 6282: Commission on America’s Medical Security Act
- H.R. 1839: Medicaid Services Investment and Accountability Act of 2019
- H.R. 5605 (115th): Advancing High Quality Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders in Medicare Act
- H.R. 1183 (115th): Wildfire Prevention Act of 2017
- H.R. 387 (114th): Economic Development Through Tribal Land Exchange Act
Does 5 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 (37%) Armed Forces and National Security (23%) Native Americans (11%) Government Operations and Politics (9%) Labor and Employment (7%) International Affairs (5%)
Recent Bills
Some of Ruiz’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 8775: To require the Secretary of the Interior to take certain measures with respect ...
- H.R. 8261: Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins Act ...
- H.R. 7849: Renewable Energy Jobs Act
- H.R. 7729: Banning Airport Redevelopment Act
- H.R. 7597: To direct the Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress a report on ...
- H.R. 7600: To expand the scope of the Department of Veterans Affairs open burn pit ...
- H.R. 7599: To direct the Secretary of Defense to provide budget information for incinerators and ...
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2013 to Nov 2020, Ruiz missed 99 of 4,667 roll call votes, which is 2.1%. This is on par with the median of 2.3% 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
