Rep. Stephen Lynch’s 2020 Report Card
Representative
from Massachusetts's 8th District
Democrat
Serving Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2025
These statistics cover Lynch’s record during the 116th Congress (Jan 3, 2019-Jan 3, 2021) and compare him 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 Lynch’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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Was 34th most present in votes compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 4 others)Lynch missed 0.9% of votes (9 of 954 votes) in the 116th Congress. View Lynch’s Profile » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (18th percentile); All Representatives (26th 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. |
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Got bicameral support on the 28th fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 24 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 587: To posthumously award the Congressional …; H.R. 976: Air Traffic Noise and Pollution … Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (11th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25th percentile); House Democrats (11th percentile); All Representatives (25th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Ranked the 43rd top leader compared to All RepresentativesOur 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 Lynch’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (82nd percentile); House Democrats (83rd percentile); All Representatives (90th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 41st least often compared to House Democrats (tied with 25 others)3 of Lynch’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.Res. 33: Expressing the sense of the …; H.R. 1201: Climate Change National Security Strategy …; H.R. 6358: To authorize supplemental appropriations for … Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (22nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (31st percentile); House Democrats (17th percentile); All Representatives (37th percentile). |
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Got the 68th most cosponsors on their bills compared to All RepresentativesLynch’s bills and resolutions had 712 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 Massachusetts Delegation (67th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (77th percentile); House Democrats (73rd percentile); All Representatives (84th percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 68th least often compared to All RepresentativesOf the 588 bills that Lynch cosponsored, 7% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (44th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (19th percentile); House Democrats (28th percentile); All Representatives (15th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Ranked 84th most politically left compared to All RepresentativesOur 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 Lynch’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (44th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (25th percentile); House Democrats (35th percentile); All Representatives (19th percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 85th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 1 other)Lynch cosponsored 588 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 Massachusetts Delegation (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (78th percentile); House Democrats (65th percentile); All Representatives (80th percentile). |
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Laws EnactedLynch introduced 1 bill 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. 390: To establish the Adams Memorial … Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (44th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (38th percentile); House Democrats (25th percentile); All Representatives (37th 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. |
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Bills IntroducedLynch introduced 27 bills and resolutions in the 116th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (62nd percentile); House Democrats (45th percentile); All Representatives (64th percentile). |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Lynch introduced 5 bills in the 116th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Those bills were: H.R. 389: Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Rewards Act; H.R. 390: To establish the Adams Memorial …; H.R. 391: White House Ethics Transparency Act …; H.R. 1065: Social Media Use in Clearance …; H.R. 3629: Clarity in Credit Score Formation … Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (66th percentile); House Democrats (53rd percentile); All Representatives (71st percentile). |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsIn this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 12 of Lynch’s 27 bills and resolutions had a cosponsor from a different political party than the party Lynch caucused with in the 116th Congress. Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (56th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (59th percentile); House Democrats (41st percentile); All Representatives (60th percentile). Cosponsors who caucused with neither the Democratic nor Republican party do not count toward this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsLynch held a leadership position on 0 committees and 1 subcommittee, as either a chair (majority party) or ranking member (minority party), at the end of the session. View Lynch’s Profile » Compare to all Massachusetts Delegation (44th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (19th percentile); House Democrats (40th percentile); All Representatives (42nd 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.
