A ranking made by the government surveillance website GovTrackin 2020, presented then Democratic Senator Kamala Harris as the most left-wing representative in the Senate at the time, surpassing even Congressman Bernie Sanders, known for his more progressive ideological position.
The ranking took into account the legislative behavior of each of the 100 US senators with an “ideology score” from 1 (for the most conservative) to 0 (for the most “liberal”).
“Members of Congress with similar political views will tend to cosponsor the same set of bills, or bills from the same set of authors, and conversely, members of Congress with different political views will tend to cosponsor different bills,” the site explained at the time.
The government watchdog website gave Sanders a score of 0.02, while Kamala Harris received a 0.00, due to her voting behavior and agendas presented in Congress.
According to GovTrackthe Democrat has supported bipartisan bills less frequently than her fellow Senate members.
“Of the 471 bills Harris co-sponsored, 15 percent were introduced by a lawmaker who was not a Democrat,” the website said.
In the opinion of the ranking authors, Harris deserved a higher score than Sanders because one of the bills she authored became law, while none led by her party colleague had the same success.
See bills introduced by Harris in the Senate
Change in drug law – In July 2019, then-Senator Harris introduced the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which sought to legalize the drug at the federal level, expunging past marijuana-related offenses from people’s criminal records, and would introduce a 5% federal excise tax on the drug.
The bill attracted five Democratic cosponsors at the time and passed the House Judiciary Committee in November 2019, awaiting a potential full vote in the chamber.
In a press release that year, Harris said that “times have changed and marijuana should no longer be a crime.”
“We need to start regulating marijuana and expunging marijuana convictions from the records of millions of Americans so they can get on with their lives. As marijuana becomes legal across the country, we need to ensure that everyone — especially communities of color who have been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs — has a real opportunity to participate in this growing industry,” he said.
In April of this year, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) informed the agency AFP that a review by the White House Office of Management and Budget is expected to soon reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug.
Housing assistance – The then-senator also introduced a bill that aimed to reduce the rent expenses of millions of Americans.
Introduced in July 2018, Senator Harris’ Rent Relief Act would provide a tax credit to anyone who spends more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities, as long as they make less than $125,000 a year.
According to GovTrack, The bill attracted five Democratic cosponsors initially but never received a vote in the Senate Finance Committee.
In April 2019, then-Senator Harris reintroduced the bill, attracting three Democratic supporters, but it again received no vote in the Senate Finance Committee.
Inclusion of statues in the Capitol – The current US vice president was also involved as a senator in debates about the inclusion of statues of generals and politicians in the Capitol.
In 2018, she introduced a bill to include a statue of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress and the first Black woman to run for president in 1972. The plan attracted 16 cosponsors, 15 Democrats and one independent, but never received a vote in the Senate Rules and Administration Committee.
Harris reintroduced the matter in Congress in March 2019, attracting support from 17 cosponsors, 16 Democrats and one independent, but again the initiative fell short of a vote in the Senate Rules and Administration Committee.
Immigrant Access to Lawyers Act – Shortly after entering the Senate in 2016, Harris introduced her first bill in February of the following year, arguing that detained illegal immigrants should have the right to a lawyer during their legal proceedings.
“Refugees, immigrants, students and tourists all deserve to be able to access legal counsel in potentially life-changing legal proceedings, whether they are entering the country at an airport or crossing the border. Interactions with immigration officials are often confusing and disorienting, and no one should be taken advantage of because of their lack of knowledge of our legal system,” he said at the time.
In July 2020, the House passed the Access to Lawyers Act as an amendment to another bill, a vote that was 231–184, with Democrats overwhelmingly supporting the measure and Republicans unanimously opposing it. In all, Harris introduced 54 bills in the Senate in 2019.
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