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Rep. Robin Kelly’s 2020 Report Card

Representative from Illinois's 2nd District
Democrat
Serving Apr 9, 2013 – Jan 3, 2025

These statistics cover Kelly’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare her to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Jan 30, 2021.

A higher or lower number below doesn’t necessarily make this legislator any better or worse, or more or less effective, than other Members of Congress. We present these statistics for you to understand the quantitative aspects of Kelly’s legislative career and make your own judgements based on what activities you think are important.

Keep in mind that there are many important aspects of being a legislator besides what can be measured, such as constituent services and performing oversight of the executive branch, which aren’t reflected here.

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Wrote the most laws compared to Illinois Delegation (tied with 1 other)

Kelly introduced 5 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 116th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. View Enacted Bills »

Those bills were: H.R. 1449: To designate the facility of …; H.R. 1503: Orange Book Transparency Act of …; H.R. 1668: IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of …; H.R. 6244: To amend titles XVIII and …; H.R. 7747: To direct the Secretary of …

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (89th percentile); House Democrats (92nd percentile); All Representatives (95th percentile).

The legislator must be the primary sponsor of the bill or joint resolution that was enacted or the primary sponsor of a bill or joint resolution for which at least about one third of its text was incorporated into another bill or joint resolution that was enacted as law, as determined by an automated analysis. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. We also exclude bills where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill.
 

Got their bills out of committee the most often compared to Illinois Delegation (tied with 1 other)

Most bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Kelly introduced 8 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration.

Those bills were: H.R. 1449: To designate the facility of …; H.R. 1503: Orange Book Transparency Act of …; H.R. 1668: IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of …; H.R. 2119: To amend the Energy Policy …; H.R. 4650: Medicare Dental Coverage Act of …; H.R. 4996: Helping MOMS Act of 2020; H.R. 6244: To amend titles XVIII and …; H.R. 7747: To direct the Secretary of …

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (89th percentile); House Democrats (80th percentile); All Representatives (88th percentile).

 

Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 5th fewest bills compared to Illinois Delegation (tied with 2 others)

In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 14 of Kelly’s 36 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Kelly caucused with in the 116th Congress.

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (22nd percentile); House Democrats (53rd percentile); All Representatives (69th percentile).

Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic.
 

Got bicameral support on the 26th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 7 others)

The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 11 of Kelly’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the Senate. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.

Those bills were: H.R. 1668: IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of …; H.R. 1897: MOMMA’s Act; H.R. 2844: Creating Pathways for Youth Employment …; H.R. 2920: Community College to Career Fund …; H.R. 3633: Women and Minority Equity Investment …; H.R. 5181: To amend the Omnibus Crime …; H.R. 5385: To amend the Omnibus Crime …; H.R. 5420: Pullman National Historical Park Act; H.R. 7077: Community Solutions for COVID–19 Act; H.R. 7699: Protecting Seniors from Emergency Scams …; H.R. 8958: Supporting Best Practices for Healthy …

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (78th percentile); House Democrats (87th percentile); All Representatives (92nd percentile).

Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service.
 

Got influential cosponsors the 31st most often compared to All Representatives (tied with 7 others)

12 of Kelly’s bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress had a cosponsor who was a chair or ranking member of a committee that the bill was referred to. Getting support from committee leaders on relevant committees is a crucial step in moving legislation forward.

Those bills were: H.R. 1114: To require the Surgeon General …; H.R. 1115: Firearm Safety Act of 2019; H.R. 1503: Orange Book Transparency Act of …; H.R. 1668: IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act of …; H.R. 1897: MOMMA’s Act; H.R. 4650: Medicare Dental Coverage Act of …; H.R. 4996: Helping MOMS Act of 2020; H.R. 6585: Equitable Data Collection and Disclosure …; H.R. 6763: COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities …; H.R. 7078: EDOT Act of 2020; H.R. 8196: Protect Black Women and Girls …; H.R. 8200: EHDC Act of 2020

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (83rd percentile); House Democrats (85th percentile); All Representatives (91st percentile).

 

Introduced the 79th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 4 others)

Kelly introduced 36 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills »

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (56th percentile); House Democrats (71st percentile); All Representatives (81st percentile).

 

Got the 89th most cosponsors on their bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)

Kelly’s bills and resolutions had 635 cosponsors in the 116th Congress. Securing cosponsors is an important part of getting support for a bill, although having more cosponsors does not always mean a bill will get a vote. View Bills »

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (72nd percentile); House Democrats (64th percentile); All Representatives (79th percentile).

 

Ranked the 99th top leader compared to All Representatives

Our unique leadership analysis looks at who is cosponsoring whose bills. A higher score shows a greater ability to get cosponsors on bills.

For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 116th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Kelly’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (67th percentile); House Democrats (62nd percentile); All Representatives (77th percentile).

 

Ranked 102nd most politically left compared to All Representatives

Our unique ideology analysis assigns a score to Members of Congress according to their legislative behavior by how similar the pattern of bills and resolutions they cosponsor are to other Members of Congress.

For more, see our methodology. Note that because on this page only legislative activity in the 116th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Kelly’s score elsewhere on GovTrack.

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (33rd percentile); House Democrats (43rd percentile); All Representatives (23rd percentile).

 

Was 100th most present in votes compared to All Representatives (tied with 11 others)

Kelly missed 0.8% of votes (8 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Kelly’s Profile »

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (33rd percentile); All Representatives (23rd percentile).

The Speaker of the House, per current House rules, is not required to vote in “ordinary legislative proceedings” and is never recorded as missing a vote, and may not be included in the comparison with other representatives if not voting. The delegates from the five island territories and the District of Columbia are not eligible to vote in most roll call votes and so may not appear here if not elligible for any vote during the time period of these statistics.
 

Joined bipartisan bills the 108th least often compared to All Representatives

Of the 540 bills that Kelly cosponsored, 9% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (39th percentile); House Democrats (45th percentile); All Representatives (25th percentile).

Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
 

Cosponsored the 111th most bills compared to All Representatives

Kelly cosponsored 540 bills and resolutions introduced by other Members of Congress. Cosponsorship shows a willingness to work with others to advance policy goals. View Cosponsored Bills »

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (61st percentile); House Democrats (54th percentile); All Representatives (75th percentile).

 

Committee Positions

Kelly held a leadership position on 0 committees and 0 subcommittees, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Kelly’s Profile »

Compare to all Illinois Delegation (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile).

Additional Notes

Leadership/Ideology: The leadership and ideology scores are not displayed for Members of Congress who introduced fewer than 10 bills, or, for ideology, for Members of Congress that have a low leadership score, as there is usually not enough data in these cases to compute reliable leadership and ideology statistics.

Missing Bills: We exclude bills from some statistics where the sponsor’s original intent is not in the final bill because the bill’s text was replaced in whole with unrelated provisions (i.e. it became a vehicle for passage of unrelated provisions).

Ranking Members (RkMembs): The chair of a committee is always selected from the political party that holds the most seats in the chamber, called the “majority party”. The “ranking member” (sometimes “RkMembs”) is the title given to the senior-most member of the committee not in the majority party.

Freshmen/Sophomores: Freshmen and sophomores are Members of Congress whose first term (in the same chamber at the end of the 116th Congress) was the 116th Congress (freshmen) or 115th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.