Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s 2015 Report Card
Representative
from California's 19th District
Democrat
Served Jan 3, 2013 – Jan 3, 2023
These year-end statistics cover Lofgren’s record during the 2015 legislative year (Jan 6, 2015-Dec 31, 2015) and compare her to other representatives serving at the end of that period. Last updated on Jan 9, 2016.
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 Lofgren’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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Supported government transparency the 9th most often compared to Serving 10+ Years (tied with 3 others)GovTrack looked at whether Lofgren supported any of 28 government transparency, accountability, and effectiveness bills in the House that we identified in this session. We gave Lofgren 4 points, based on one point for cosponsoring and three points for sponsoring any of these bills. Lofgren sponsored H.R. 2173: Redistricting Reform Act of 2015 Lofgren cosponsored H.R. 20: Government By the People Act … Compare to all California Delegation (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); House Democrats (86th percentile); Safe House Seats (91st percentile); All Representatives (92nd percentile). |
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Cosponsored the 17th most bills compared to All RepresentativesLofgren cosponsored 404 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 (89th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); House Democrats (92nd percentile); Safe House Seats (96th percentile); All Representatives (96th percentile). |
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Was 17th most absent in votes compared to All RepresentativesLofgren missed 10.4% of votes (73 of 704 votes) in 2015. View Lofgren’s Profile » Compare to all California Delegation (94th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (93rd percentile); Safe House Seats (96th percentile); All Representatives (96th 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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Ranked 31st 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 2015 is considered, the ideology score here may differ from Lofgren’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all California Delegation (13th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (11th percentile); House Democrats (16th percentile); Safe House Seats (8th percentile); All Representatives (7th percentile). |
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Got influential cosponsors the 28th most often compared to House Democrats (tied with 15 others)4 of Lofgren’s bills and resolutions in 2015 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. 656: Online Communications and Geolocation Protection …; H.R. 689: Surveillance Order Reporting Act of …; H.R. 726: Secure Data Act of 2015; H.R. 1918: Aaron’s Law Act of 2015 Compare to all California Delegation (74th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (69th percentile); House Democrats (78th percentile); Safe House Seats (75th percentile); All Representatives (76th percentile). |
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Introduced the 70th most bills compared to All Representatives (tied with 10 others)Lofgren introduced 17 bills and resolutions in 2015. View Bills » Compare to all California Delegation (79th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (73rd percentile); House Democrats (81st percentile); Safe House Seats (81st percentile); All Representatives (82nd percentile). |
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Joined bipartisan bills the 105th most often compared to All RepresentativesIn this era of partisanship, it is encouraging to see Members of Congress working across the aisle. Of the 404 bills that Lofgren cosponsored, 29% were introduced by a legislator who was not a Democrat. View Cosponsored Bills » Compare to all California Delegation (69th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (73rd percentile); House Democrats (49th percentile); Safe House Seats (77th percentile); All Representatives (76th 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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Laws EnactedLofgren introduced 0 bills that became law in 2015. 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); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). A bill or joint resolution is considered enacted if it or an exactly identical bill to it is enacted as law. We only consider bills that the legislator was the primary sponsor of. While a legislator may lay claim to authoring other bills that became law, such as through incorporation into larger bills, these cases are difficult for us to track quantitatively. |
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Bills Out of CommitteeMost bills and resolutions languish in committee without any action. Lofgren introduced 0 bills in 2015 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); Safe House Seats (0th percentile); All Representatives (0th percentile). |
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Working with the SenateThe House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing Those bills were: H.R. 1918: Aaron’s Law Act of 2015 Compare to all California Delegation (30th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (23rd percentile); House Democrats (30th percentile); Safe House Seats (29th percentile); All Representatives (29th percentile). Companion bills are those that are identified as “identical” by Congress’s Congressional Research Service. |
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Writing Bipartisan BillsLofgren tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 41% of Lofgren’s 17 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2015. Compare to all California Delegation (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (65th percentile); House Democrats (73rd percentile); Safe House Seats (61st percentile); All Representatives (58th percentile). Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic. |
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Committee PositionsLofgren 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 Lofgren’s Profile » Compare to all California Delegation (34th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (17th percentile); House Democrats (38th percentile); Safe House Seats (36th percentile); All Representatives (38th percentile). |
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CosponsorsLofgren’s bills and resolutions had 182 cosponsors in 2015. 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 (62nd percentile); Serving 10+ Years (55th percentile); House Democrats (60th percentile); Safe House Seats (61st percentile); All Representatives (63rd percentile). |
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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 2015 is considered, the leadership score here may differ from Lofgren’s score elsewhere on GovTrack. Compare to all California Delegation (66th percentile); Serving 10+ Years (53rd percentile); House Democrats (68th percentile); Safe House Seats (56th percentile); All Representatives (57th 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 2015) 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.
