Rep. Barbara Lee
Representative for California’s 12th District
pronounced BAHR-bruh // lee
Lee is the representative for California’s 12th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 3, 2023. Lee is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. She is 78 years old.
She was previously the representative for California’s 13th congressional district as a Democrat from 2013 to 2022; and the representative for California’s 9th congressional district as a Democrat from 1998 to 2012.
![Photo of Rep. Barbara Lee [D-CA12]](/https/www.govtrack.us/static/legislator-photos/400237-200px.jpeg)
Misconduct
Lee was arrested at a protest in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building on July, 19 2022. The same month the Committee published a committee report indicating they will pay a $50 fine.
Jul. 29, 2022 | House Committee on Ethics published a committee report indicating they will pay a $50 fine |
Earmarks
Lee proposed $36 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $8 million to San Francisco Bay Conservation & Development Commission for “The Middle Harbor Enhancement Area Project”
- $6 million to Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) for “The Oscar Grant Youth Power Zone and KOO Labs Design Center and Production House”
- $3.1 million to Western Regional Center for “Modernization of the USDA's Western Regional Research Center, Albany, CA”
View all requests and justifications on Lee’s website »
View analysis and download spreadsheet from Demand Progress Education Fund »
These are earmark requests which may or may not survive the legislative process to becoming law. Most representatives from both parties requested earmarks for fiscal year 2024. Across representatives who requested earmarks, the median total amount requested for this fiscal year was $39 million.
Earmarks are federal expenditures, tax benefits, or tariff benefits requested by a legislator for a specific entity. Rather than being distributed through a formula or competitive process administered by the executive branch, earmarks may direct spending where it is most needed for the legislator's district. All earmark requests in the House of Representatives are published online for the public to review. We don’t have earmark requests for senators. The fiscal year begins on October 1 of the prior calendar year. Source: Appropriations.house.gov. Background: Earmark Disclosure Rules in the House
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Lee is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).
The chart is based on the bills Lee has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Aug 20, 2024. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Barbara Lee sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Lee was the primary sponsor of 4 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 4373 (117th): Further Additional Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2023
- H.R. 8282 (117th): Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2023
- H.R. 1923 (116th): Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020
- H.R. 1409 (109th): Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005
Does 4 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
Lee sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Health (29%) International Affairs (21%) Taxation (10%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (10%) Armed Forces and National Security (10%) Education (8%) Social Welfare (7%) Arts, Culture, Religion (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Lee recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.Res. 1411: Recognizing July 2024 as the 30th anniversary of the reproductive justice movement to …
- H.R. 9161: To improve the health of minority individuals, and for other purposes.
- H.Res. 1333: Recognizing the significance of National Caribbean American Heritage Month.
- H.Res. 1299: Reaffirming the goals and ideals of the 1994 International Conference on Population and …
- H.Res. 1093: Supporting the goals and ideals of Social Work Month and World Social Work …
- H.R. 7041: Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act of 2024
- H.Res. 960: RESPECT Resolution
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Apr 1998 to Jul 2024, Lee missed 582 of 17,045 roll call votes, which is 3.4%. This is worse than the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills