![Photo of Rep. Rubén Hinojosa [D-TX15, 1997-2016]](/data/photos/400179-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2016 Report Card for Hinojosa.
Sponsorship Analysis
Our unique analysis of the bills Hinojosa sponsored and cosponsored provides insight into his position in the House of Representatives.
Each dot in the chart below was a member of the House of Representatives in 2016. The dots are positioned horizontally according to our progressive—conservative ideology score and vertically according to our leadership score (leaders toward the top). Hinojosa is shown as a purple triangle. (analysis methodology)
Enacted Legislation
Hinojosa was the primary sponsor of 5 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 1072 (109th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 151 West End Street in Goliad, Texas, as the “Judge Emilio Vargas Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 4829 (108th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 103 East Kleberg in Kingsville, Texas, as the “Irma Rangel Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 4299 (108th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 410 South Jackson Road in Edinburg, Texas, as the “Dr. Miguel A. Nevarez Post Office ...
- H.R. 2990 (107th): Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Resources Conservation and Improvement Act of 2002
- H.R. 2988 (106th): Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Resources Conservation and Improvement Act of 1999
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 about one third or more 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
Hinojosa sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Education (43%) Finance and Financial Sector (14%) Armed Forces and National Security (7%) Taxation (7%) Housing and Community Development (7%) Labor and Employment (7%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (7%) Health (7%)
Recent Bills
Some of Hinojosa’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 4834 (114th): North American Development Bank General Capital Increase Authorization Act of 2016
- H.Res. 505 (114th): Honoring the 50th anniversary of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
- H.R. 3721 (114th): Affordable College Textbook Act
- H.R. 1956 (114th): Pell Grant Protection Act
- H.R. 1959 (114th): College Options for DREAMers Act
- H.R. 1958 (114th): Year-Round Pell Grant Restoration Act
- H.R. 1957 (114th): Pell Grant Cost of Tuition Adjustment Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
| Hinojosa’s Vote | Vote Description |
|---|---|
| Aye |
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. 622: State and Local Sales Tax Deduction Fairness Act of 2015
Apr 16, 2015. Passed 272/152.
|
| 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 ... |
| Aye |
H.J.Res. 124 (113th): Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2015
Sep 17, 2014. Passed 319/108.
|
| Nay |
H.Res. 23 (113th): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 152) making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September ...
Jan 15, 2013. Passed 367/52.
|
| No |
H.R. 6233 (112th): Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act of 2012
Aug 2, 2012. Passed 223/197.
|
| Yea |
H.R. 5325 (112th): Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013
Jun 6, 2012. Passed 255/165.
|
| Aye |
H.R. 3078 (112th): United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Implementation Act
Oct 12, 2011. Passed 262/167.
|
| 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 ... |
| Nay |
H.Res. 317 (111th): Recognizing the region from Manhattan, Kansas, to Columbia, Missouri, as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, and ...
Sep 15, 2009. Passed 312/108.
|
Missed Votes
From Jan 1997 to Dec 2016, Hinojosa missed 1,496 of 13,498 roll call votes, which is 11.1%. This is much worse than the median of 2.4% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2016. ProPublica has tracked 129 explanations for these missed votes. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
Primary Sources
The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including:
- Congress-Legislators, a community project collecting election information
- The House and Senate websites, for committee membership and voting records
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GPO.gov/FDSys, for sponsored bills