Watkins was the representative for Kansas’s 2nd congressional district and was a Republican. He served from 2019 to 2020.
Alleged misconduct & resolution
In 2020, the district attorney of Shawnee County, KS, charged Rep. Watkins with three felonies after he voted in the wrong city council district in a 2019 municipal election and subsequently lied to law enforcement. On July 17, 2020, in accordance with House GOP conference rules, Rep. Watkins stepped down from his committee positions. In August 2020, Rep. Watkins lost in the Kansas primary and will leave Congress in January 2021. On August 14, the House Ethics Committee established an Investigative Subcommittee.
| Jul. 14, 2020 | The district attorney of Shawnee County, KS, charged Rep. Watkins with three felonies. |
| Jul. 17, 2020 | In accordance with House GOP conference rules, Rep. Watkins stepped down from his committee positions. |
| Aug. 4, 2020 | Watkins lost in the Kansas Republican primary. |
| Aug. 14, 2020 | House Committee on Ethics established an Investigative Subcommittee. |
![Photo of Rep. Steven Watkins [R-KS2, 2019-2020]](/static/legislator-photos/412779-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2020 Report Card for Watkins.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Enacted Legislation
Watkins was the primary sponsor of 1 bill that was enacted:
Does 1 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
Watkins sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Armed Forces and National Security (43%) Finance and Financial Sector (29%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (29%)
Recent Bills
Some of Watkins’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 6060 (116th): Veterans Burial Benefit Correction Act
- H.R. 5537 (116th): Conan Commemorative Coin Act
- H.Res. 764 (116th): Expressing the support of the House of Representatives for the priorities and ...
- H.R. 5029 (116th): VA Suicide Prevention Services Act
- H.R. 5030 (116th): VA Suicide Prevention Services Accountability Act
- H.R. 4800 (116th): Pro-LIFE Act
- H.R. 4267 (116th): Independent and Community Bank Shareholders Protection Act
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2019 to Dec 2020, Watkins missed 12 of 954 roll call votes, which is 1.3%. This is better than the median of 2.3% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2020. 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
- Office of the Clerk, House of Representatives for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
