Rep. Xavier Becerra’s 2016 Report Card
Representative
from California's 34th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 24, 2017
These statistics cover Becerra’s record during the 114th Congress (Jan 6, 2015-Jan 3, 2017) and compare him to other representatives also serving at the end of the session. Last updated on Aug 24, 2017. The statistics were updated on Jan 20, 2017 and Aug 24, 2017 to improve how we counted enacted laws. Originally published on Jan 7, 2017.
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 Becerra’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.
|
|
Joined bipartisan bills the 3rd least often compared to House DemocratsOf the 142 bills that Becerra cosponsored, 14% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all California Delegation (12th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (30th percentile); House Democrats (1st percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile). Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
|
|
Cosponsored the 7th fewest bills compared to House DemocratsBecerra cosponsored 142 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 California Delegation (4th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (12th percentile); House Democrats (3rd percentile); All Representatives (10th percentile). |
|
|
Got bicameral support on the 6th most bills compared to California Delegation (tied with 4 others)The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 4128: Taxpayer Rights Act of 2015; H.R. 6001: Smithsonian American Latino Museum Act; H.Con.Res. 142: Supporting the bid of Los …; H.Con.Res. 167: Honoring Vincent Edward “Vin” Scully, … Compare to all California Delegation (81st percentile); Serving 10+ Years (68th percentile); House Democrats (68th percentile); All Representatives (72nd percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
|
|
Got bipartisan cosponsors on the 21st fewest bills compared to House Democrats (tied with 21 others)In this era of partisanship, it is important to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. 2 of Becerra’s 19 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in the 114th Congress. Compare to all California Delegation (15th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (11th percentile); House Democrats (10th percentile); All Representatives (12th percentile). |
|
|
Got influential cosponsors the 44th least often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 31 others)2 of Becerra’s bills and resolutions in the 114th 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. 1419: Social Security Fraud and Error …; H.Con.Res. 142: Supporting the bid of Los … Compare to all California Delegation (19th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (23rd percentile); House Democrats (24th percentile); All Representatives (27th percentile). |
|
|
Was 68th most absent in votes compared to All RepresentativesBecerra missed 5.7% of votes (76 of 1,325 votes) in the 114th Congress. View Becerra’s Profile » Compare to all California Delegation (77th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (79th percentile); All Representatives (84th 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. |
|
|
Laws EnactedBecerra introduced 0 bills that became law, including via incorporation into other measures, in the 114th Congress. Keep in mind that it takes a law to repeal a law. Very few bills ever become law. Compare to all California Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th 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. |
|
|
Bills IntroducedBecerra introduced 19 bills and resolutions in the 114th Congress. View Bills » Compare to all California Delegation (58th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (58th percentile); House Democrats (60th percentile); All Representatives (63rd percentile). |
|
|
Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Becerra introduced 0 bills in the 114th Congress that got past committee and to the floor for consideration. Compare to all California Delegation (0th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (0th percentile); House Democrats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
|
|
Committee PositionsBecerra 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 Becerra’s Profile » Compare to all California Delegation (33rd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (21st percentile); House Democrats (39th percentile); All Representatives (39th percentile). |
|
|
CosponsorsBecerra’s bills and resolutions had 170 cosponsors in the 114th 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 California Delegation (44th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (37th percentile); House Democrats (37th percentile); All Representatives (40th percentile). |
|
|
Ideology ScoreOur 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 114th Congress is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Becerra’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all California Delegation (52nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (36th percentile); House Democrats (63rd percentile); All Representatives (27th percentile). |
|
|
Leadership ScoreOur 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 114th Congress is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Becerra’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all California Delegation (44th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (34th percentile); House Democrats (43rd percentile); All Representatives (33rd percentile). |
|
|
Government TransparencyGovTrack looked at whether Becerra supported any of 40 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Becerra 2 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Becerra cosponsored H.R. 430: DISCLOSE 2015 Act; H.R. 20: Government By the People Act … Compare to all California Delegation (37th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (50th percentile); House Democrats (16th percentile); All Representatives (52nd 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 114th Congress) was the 114th Congress (freshmen) or 113th (sophomores). Members of Congress who took office within the last few months of a Congress are considered freshmen in the next Congress as well.
