Tracking Politicians: How Effective Has “The Squad” Been?
(Well the Squad +1 Because I Wanted to Discuss Rep Katie Porter As Well)
Yes, this is a long read, but it is important.
Remember all the coverage of the super-diverse young, progressive rising stars, The Squad? They were six members of the Freshman class of the 2018 Elections that took the media and the country by storm.
The ones you heard the most about were Reps Tlaib, Pressley, Ilhan, and Ocasio-Cortez but there was also Cori Bush and Jamal Bowman. They were and still are in many ways, a beacon of hope and progress and they swooped into DC swearing to shake things up and change the face of politics.
In some ways they have, but I was curious after a little over 3 years of being in office about what they have put forward as far as bills, how many bills have made it across the finish line, and who has been the most productive and focused on doing the work.
Now, to start with, very, very few bills are ever enacted into law, much less get out of committee for a variety of reasons. One, there are 435 people in the House, and they each submit dozens of bills, and time constraints alone prevent many of them from even getting looked at.
Two, politics. If you piss off the wrong people your bill will never see the light of day. Three, convincing enough people to sign onto the bill and apply enough pressure to push it to the front of the line.
So if your bill manages to make it through committee, onto the House floor, get voted on, pass, then go to Senate, pass, and then get to the President you have pulled off a Herculean task. Most voters consistently fail to understand that which is why so often they just assume all politicians suck.
I can’t count the number of times I have told people on social media that if they think they can do a better job then they should get elected, write a bill, and get approx 300+ people (if you add House and Senate together) to agree to it and then get it signed by the President and do it in less than 18 months which seems to be the time span Democrats want everything fixed in. I very rarely get responses to that statement.
At any rate, back to The Squad. There is a wonderful and little-known site called govtrack, which tracks every bill and every legislator so you can go see who is up to what, what is in the bill, and how it is progressing. (I wish the entire country bothered to use this site as there would be far less knee-jerk hate and screeching going around if they did).
You can type in the name of any member of Congress, or bill and see all the information you could possibly want to see. I decided to hop on over there and take a look at who has done what, what types of bills they have introduced, and what progress has been made.
Now, before I do that, I want to add a few caveats, there are many ways of accomplishing things in politics, you can add amendments to other bills that have a better chance of passing, do investigations and hearings to throw light on things like corruption, etc to spur public outrage/educate the public on things that need to change.
You can help try to convince other politicians to take up your cause, you can sign on to other bills to help get them passed. However, my focus was to see what the Squad has chosen to originate, put their names on and try to pass. So let’s take a look, shall we?
Probably the most recognizable and the one we saw most in the media was AOC. There are many things that I liked about her starting out, I love how she used her Instagram to educate and engage followers, share the political process and give people a first-person POV into the world of law-making. I slowly became less of a fan as she became more and more focused on attacking her fellow Dems, especially the ones from Red States (with the exception of Sinema and Manchin, they deserve all the attacks they get).
I was also well aware that her way of doing things had alienated her from a lot of fellow members of Congress. One of the truths in politics is that eventually, you will need help from people you disagree with to get things done, making enemies can destroy your ability to be effective. So, how has she been doing?
(I am linking to their govtrack pages so you can see all the bills, click on the bills, read the texts, etc. I will put bill descriptions in when I think it’s important.)
Rep AOC has introduced 41 bills, there are only two members of The Squad who have introduced fewer. Of her 41 bills, 4 have made it out of committee, and none have been enacted into law.
These are the 4 bills that have made it out of committee. Feel free to take a look and see what they do.
H.R. 7393: Improving VA Workforce Diversity Through Minority-serving Institutions Act of 2022
Improving VA Workforce Diversity Through Minority-serving Institutions Act of 2022
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop plans for hiring and recruiting diverse candidates.
Specifically, the VA must develop and carry out an employee recruitment strategy that includes partnering with minority-serving institutions.
The VA must also develop and carry out a plan to ensure that (1) vacant positions may be filled from a candidate pool that includes diverse leaders and diverse candidates identified for promotion; and (2) such positions must be filled using promotion panels comprised of diverse evaluators, reviewers, or assessors.
Additionally, the VA may establish a program, in coordination with minority-serving professional organizations, to foster and encourage individuals from underserved communities to serve in the Senior Executive Service of the VA.
H.R. 6419: Fair Chance Improvement Act
Fair Chance Improvement Act
This bill revises provisions regarding the prohibition on federal contractors, including defense contractors, inquiring about applicants’ criminal histories prior to conditional offers of employment.
The bill allows the Department of Labor to investigate compliance by a contractor by conducting a compliance evaluation. Currently, Labor investigates compliance pursuant to an applicant’s complaint.
The bill also expands the sanctions that Labor may impose on a contractor with more than one violation of the prohibition.
This bill limits the exemption for family offices from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) regulations applicable to investment advisers. A family office is a privately held company that manages a single family’s wealth. Currently, a family office is generally not considered an investment adviser for purposes of SEC regulation regardless of the amount of managed assets, and is therefore not subject to regulations relating to duties, recordkeeping, and disclosures.
The bill limits the exemption to include only family offices with less than $750 million in managed assets. Furthermore, the SEC must exclude from the exemption certain persons subject to a final order regarding fraudulent conduct, among other activities.
Moving on from AOC — Rep Jamal Bowman, the only male member of the squad has introduced 17 bills. None of which have made it out of committee. I am not quite sure what he has been doing the rest of the time but it is intriguing that he has so few.
It is also intriguing that Rep Cori Bush has even fewer. She has only introduced 14 bills, 10 of which were introduced in 2021, and the remaining four were in 2022. Now, her bills are tackling some very important topics and they do have a lot of cosponsors, but of all the Squad she has the fewest bills introduced.
Rep Tlaib on the other hand has 46 bills introduced and has gotten the most movement on her bills.
2 have gotten out of committee and are waiting to go to the floor, 4 more passed the House and 1 has been signed by the President and become law. That one is
Representative Payee Fraud Prevention Act of 2019
This bill prohibits a representative payee (i.e., a person designated to receive payments on behalf of a minor, a mentally incompetent individual, or an individual under other legal disability) from embezzling or converting the amounts received from certain retirement funds.
If the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) determines that a representative payee has embezzled or converted payments from the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employees Retirement System for a use other than the benefit of the individual on whose behalf such payments were received, OPM shall (1) revoke the certification for payment of benefits to the representative payee, and (2) certify payment to another representative payee or to the individual.
The two that have made it out of Committee and are waiting
H.R. 5330 (116th): Consumer Protection for Medical Debt Collections Act
Sponsor: Rep. Rashida Tlaib [D-MI13]
Consumer Protection for Medical Debt Collections Act
This bill restricts the inclusion of medical debt on a consumer credit report.
A consumer reporting agency is prohibited from including on a consumer credit report, and a person is prohibited from reporting to such agency (1) medical debt arising from a medically necessary procedure, or (2) other medical debt less than a year old.
A person reporting medical debt to a consumer reporting agency must first provide notice to that consumer regarding the restrictions on including medical debt on credit reports.
Furthermore, a debt collector is prohibited from collecting a medical debt less than two years old.
H.R. 3622 (116th): Restoring Unfairly Impaired Credit and Protecting Consumers Act
Restoring Unfairly Impaired Credit and Protecting Consumers Act
This bill revises requirements regarding consumer credit information included by a consumer reporting agency on a credit report, including by
requiring removal of adverse information that resulted from specified fraudulent lending activity, shortening the time period adverse information stays on reports, and limiting the inclusion of certain medical debt on reports. The bill also requires a consumer reporting agency to provide free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to certain consumers, including victims of fraud, active duty military, and those 65 years of age and older.
The four that have passed the House and arewaiting to go to the Senate are:
H.R. 1532: Improving FHA Support for Small-Dollar Mortgages Act of 2021
Improving FHA Support for Small Dollar Mortgages Act of 2021
This bill directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to report on barriers to making Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family mortgage insurance available for mortgages under $70,000. Specifically, HUD must report on policies, practices, and products used by the FHA and actions that will be taken to remove such barriers.
H.R. 739: For the relief of Median El-Moustrah.
H.R. 7572 (116th): For the relief of Median El-Moustrah.
The remaining members are Pressley and Omar, between them, they have introduced 139 bills. They’ve been busy.
Rep Pressley has introduced 62 Bills, 4 made it out of committee and one got adopted as a resolution.
She has had the following 4 bills get out of Committee to the House Floor.
H.R. 5703: Post-Disaster Mental Health Response Act
The Crisis Counseling Program is available to address the mental health needs of people for up to nine months after they experience a natural disaster. The program is funded by grants from FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) and run by states, territories, and tribes. The program is activated in areas after a presidential major disaster declaration.
There are two main types of disaster declarations: “major disasters” and “emergency declarations.” The president determines both, with the former generally reserved for events with greater monetary damage and longer-duration effects, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The latter is usually more limited in scope and duration and cannot exceed $5 million in federal assistance, such as the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
The average number of emergency declarations is about 8.7 per year.
What the bill does
Currently the Crisis Counseling Program is only available for major disasters, but the Post-Disaster Mental Health Response Act would expand it to also include emergency declarations.
To require the global systemically important bank holding companies to provide annual reports to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes.
H.R. 5021 (116th): Ending Debt Collection Harassment Act of 2019
This bill prohibits a debt collector from sending electronic communications to a consumer without the consumer’s consent. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) may not issue rules that allow a debt collector to send unlimited electronic communications. Additionally, the CFPB must report on consumer complaints about electronic communications and enforcement actions taken against debt collectors.
One has passed the House and has gone into the Senate
H.R. 3621 (116th): Comprehensive CREDIT Act of 2020 (This deals a lot with credit reporting so go read it)
Comprehensive Credit Reporting Enhancement, Disclosure, Innovation, and Transparency Act of 2020 or the Comprehensive CREDIT Act of 2020
This bill provides for additional consumer credit protections, sets forth requirements for credit reporting agencies, and prohibits the inclusion of specified information on credit reports.
Had one Resolution Adopted.
This resolution (1) supports the efforts of state securities regulators to promote capital investment and educate investors, and (2) urges collaboration between the Securities and Exchange Commission and state securities regulators.
And one Bill Enacted into Law due to Being Attached to another Bill.
H.R. 1706: Emergency Homelessness Assistance Act of 2021
This bill provides additional FY2021 funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program. Funding is provided for tenant-based rental assistance, development and support of affordable housing, supportive housing services, and the acquisition of non-congregate shelter units. These units may remain non-congregate shelter units, be converted into permanent affordable housing, or be used as emergency shelter. Individuals qualifying for such assistance include at-risk veterans and individuals who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence or other dangerous situations.
Enacted via H.R. 1319: American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
Now onto Rep Omar: She has introduced 77 bills. One has been enacted into law by being added to the Coronavirus Response Act and that bill was The MEALS Act.
Maintaining Essential Access to Lunch for Students Act or the MEALS Act
This bill modifies food and nutrition programs of the Department of Agriculture to allow certain waivers to requirements for the school meal programs, including waivers that increase federal costs during a school closure related to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019).
Such waivers must be requested by a state or service provider and be for purposes of providing meals and snacks during such a closure.
One has passed the House and is waiting to go to Senate. That was the Combating International Islamophobia Act
Combating International Islamophobia Act
This bill establishes within the Department of State the Office to Monitor and Combat Islamophobia and addresses related issues.
The office shall monitor and combat acts of Islamophobia and Islamophobic incitement in foreign countries. The bill establishes the position of Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Islamophobia, who shall head the office.
The bill also requires certain existing annual reports to Congress about human rights and religious freedom in foreign countries to include information about Islamophobia, such as information about (1) acts of physical violence or harassment of Muslim people, (2) instances of propaganda in government and nongovernment media that attempt to justify or promote hatred or incite violence against Muslim people, and (3) actions taken by a country’s government to respond to such acts. The office shall coordinate and assist in preparing these portions of the reports.
No funds made available pursuant to the bill may be used to promote or endorse a boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement ideology (i.e., economic measures against Israel or Israel-related individuals or organizations) or used to promote or endorse a Muslim ban.
Now I am adding Rep Porter in because she was elected at the same time but got much less fanfare and I thought it would be interesting to see what other, less in the media eye progressives have done in the same amount of time. Also, I love her.
She has been as busy as Reps Pressley and Omar, introducing 76 bills with 4 making it out of committee:
H.R. 2994: Accountability for Acting Officials Act
This bill makes a series of changes with respect to the appointment, tenure, and qualifications of acting officials of executive agencies.
Among other things, the bill specifies that, for a position that requires an appointment by the President (by and with the advice and consent of the Senate),
the first assistant to the office may temporarily fill the position only if the individual has been the first assistant for at least 30 days during the preceding year; an officer or employee of the agency who is directed by the President to temporarily fill the position may only do so if the officer or employee has served at the agency for at least the entire preceding year (rather than 90 days); and an individual who is a presidential appointee and is directed by the President to temporarily fill the position, including an acting Inspector General, must possess the requisite qualifications for the position as provided by law or regulation. The bill also limits the tenure of acting heads of agencies to no more than 120 days (rather than 210 days).
H.R. 1517: Ending Taxpayer Welfare for Oil and Gas Companies Act of 2021
Ending Taxpayer Welfare for Oil and Gas Companies Act of 2021
This bill addresses royalties related to the development of federal energy resources.
Among other requirements, the bill
increases the onshore royalty rates for new oil, gas, and coal leases; increases onshore rental rates for oil and gas leasing; modifies the current onshore oil and gas minimum bid from $2 to $5 and requires it to be adjusted every four years for inflation; and increases inspection fees and penalties on oil and gas operators.
H.R. 4320 (116th): Corporate Management Accountability Act of 2019
Corporate Management Accountability Act of 2019
This bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to promulgate final rules requiring certain issuers of securities to disclose whether the issuer has established procedures to recoup from compensation paid to its executive officers fines and penalties for illegal behavior. If the issuer has not established such procedures, it must explain why such procedures are not necessary for the benefit of its shareholders.
H.R. 3641 (116th): Stronger Enforcement of Civil Penalties Act of 2019
Stronger Enforcement of Civil Penalties Act of 2019
This bill increases civil and administrative monetary penalties for securities laws violations.
The bill also adds a fourth tier of monetary penalties for violations by a person that, within the five-year period preceding the violation (1) was criminally convicted for securities fraud; or (2) became subject to a judgment or order imposing monetary, equitable, or administrative relief in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) action alleging fraud.
In addition, the bill expands penalties for violations of certain federal court injunctions or SEC orders.
One that made it to the Senate.
For those of you who don’t know, Rep Porter is a single mother of 3 and has made addressing inequities that single parents deal with one of her main campaign thrusts. I thought this was a huge step to help get more women to run for office.
Would more mothers run for political office if they could use campaign money to pay for childcare?
Context
A 2018 Federal Election Commission (FEC) advisory opinion concluded that candidates can spend campaign funds on childcare expenses, so long as the expenses are “incurred as a direct result of campaign activity.”
But some worry that the advisory opinion lacks the stability of a federal law, since it could be overturned — perhaps soon, if President Trump nominates and the Republican-led Senate confirms one or more new commissioners. Trump currently has no commissioners on the FEC.
The issue is starting to gather steam at the state level. Six states now explicitly allow campaign money to be used for childcare under state law, all doing so in the past two years. And they span parties: Democratic-controlled California, Colorado, and New York; divided control states Minnesota and New Hampshire; and Republican-controlled Utah.
What the legislation does
The Help America Run Act (HARA) would explicitly clarify under federal law that a political candidate’s campaign funds could be used towards childcare.
Though not as heavily publicized by the legislation’s sponsors as the childcare provision, its true calling card, the legislation would also explicitly allow campaign funds to be used for elder care and dependent care, such as an aging parent or grandparent.
The House version was introduced on March 7 as bill number H.R. 1623, by Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA45). The Senate version was introduced on October 29 as bill number S. 2726, by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
Her only bill to get signed by the President at the moment is one dealing with renaming a post office, which happens a lot more than you may think.
So if you made it this far you may be wondering what’s the point here? Is this common behavior? Are they more or less successful than other legislators?
Well, GovTrack has report cards here for 2019 and 2020 (not sure why they don’t for 2021 and 2022 yet) however for their first two years, the Squad and Rep Porter were ranked in the lower part of the total bills introduced for the whole House of Representatives.
Reps Omar, Pressley, and Porter were ranked rather high out of all the Freshmen though. Does that mean they are more or less successful? As I said earlier, there are multiple ways to get your agendas passed in Congress, but to me, it does show what they are putting their time and energy towards.
The other thing it demonstrates to me at least is that as much as we would love to reform Congress to the point where things can get done in a snap, and no matter how much of a firebrand you are going in, you still have to deal with the reality of bureaucracy.
This is why when bills like the Assault Weapons Ban which was introduced in Mar of 2021, get to where it passes the House with 212 Cosponsors and makes it through the entire process in little over a year we shouldn’t have the first words out of our collective liberal mouths be “What the fuck took so long!!??!!”
The process isn’t designed to be fast and things have only gotten worse over the years with tribalism and in-fighting. The only way we can get things to move faster is to make sure that we support the people who are working so hard to achieve a massive restructuring of the entire country’s way of life, and instead of getting so frustrated and rage quitting, we need to take a step back, remember the processes involved, and KEEP VOTING!
The more people on our side that we get into office, the faster we can pass bills and the less chance they will stall out somewhere in the process due to partisan bullshit. This is what conservatives have done so much better than we have, understand how to strategize to keep just enough power to throw a wrench into everything.
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