Rep. Josh Harder
Representative for California’s 9th District
pronounced josh // HAHR-der
Harder is the representative for California’s 9th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2023. Harder is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. He is 37 years old.
He was previously the representative for California’s 10th congressional district as a Democrat from 2019 to 2022.
![Photo of Rep. Josh Harder [D-CA9]](/static/legislator-photos/412754-200px.jpeg)
Earmarks
Harder proposed $52 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $10 million to Stockton Port District for “Emission Reduction Initiatives for the Port of Stockton”
- $9 million to Delta Community Developer's Corp for “Salas Park, Housing for Homeless and At-Risk Seniors”
- $6 million to United States Army Corps of Engineers for “Stockton Metropolitan Area Reimbursement Project”
View all requests and justifications on Harder’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
Harder 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 Harder has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to May 17, 2024. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Josh Harder sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Harder was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 4356 (116th): Protecting Families of Fallen Servicemembers Act
- H.R. 3399 (116th): To amend the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003 to include California in the program, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 8041 (116th): Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program Authorization Act
Does 3 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
Harder sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Education (16%) Agriculture and Food (16%) Labor and Employment (13%) Health (13%) Armed Forces and National Security (13%) Water Resources Development (12%) Taxation (10%) Crime and Law Enforcement (6%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Harder recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 8308: To reauthorize the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003.
- H.R. 8002: Stop the Rate Hikes Act
- H.R. 6968: Bringing More Therapists to the Valley Act of 2024
- H.R. 6340: Improving Housing Outcomes for Veterans Act of 2023
- H.R. 5992: Protecting Farmers from Drought Act of 2023
- H.R. 5941: Ban Corporate PACs Act
- H.R. 5756: Protect Families from Toxic Algal Blooms Act
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2019 to May 2024, Harder missed 40 of 2,894 roll call votes, which is 1.4%. This is on par with the median of 2.0% 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
- Office of the Clerk, House of Representatives for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
