Rep. Henry C. “Hank” Johnson
Representative for Georgia’s 4th District
pronounced HEN-ree // JON-sun
![Photo of Rep. Henry C. “Hank” Johnson [D-GA4]](/static/legislator-photos/412199-200px.jpeg)
Misconduct
In July 2021, Rep. Johnson was arrested at a protest. The House Committee on Ethics reported that he paid a fine and closed the investigation.
| Jul. 30, 2021 | House Committee on Ethics reported the arrest and that he paid the fine, and closed the investigation |
Earmarks
Johnson proposed $35 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $8 million to Rockdale County Board of Commissioners for “Honey and Scott Creek Pump Stations and Force Mains”
- $4 million to DeKalb County Government for “YMCA of Metro Atlanta- South DeKalb”
- $3.6 million to Rockdale County Board of Commissioners for “Almand Branch Waste Water Treatment”
View all requests and justifications on Johnson’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
Johnson 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 Johnson has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Jun 3, 2024. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Johnson was the primary sponsor of 9 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 5593 (117th): Cybersecurity Opportunity Act
- H.R. 6196 (116th): TM Act of 2020
- H.R. 3274 (114th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4567 Rockbridge Road in Pine Lake, Georgia, as the “Francis Manuel Ortega Post Office”.
- H.R. 368 (112th): Removal Clarification Act of 2011
- H.R. 5330 (111th): To amend the Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 to extend the operation of such Act, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 2675 (111th): Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 Extension Act
- H.R. 1626 (111th): Statutory Time-Periods Technical Amendments Act of 2009
Does 9 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
Johnson sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Law (36%) Health (14%) Transportation and Public Works (14%) Commerce (12%) Crime and Law Enforcement (8%) Armed Forces and National Security (7%) International Affairs (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Johnson recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 7039: Stronger Communities through Better Transit Act
- H.Res. 937: Raising awareness for the sarcoma cancer chordoma.
- H.R. 6820: Small Business Contracting Fairness Act
- H.R. 6596: Gun Violence Prevention and Community Safety Act of 2023
- H.Res. 792: Expressing support for the designation of October 17, 2023, as “National Vitiligo Awareness …
- H.R. 5566: Supreme Court Tenure Establishment and Retirement Modernization Act of 2023
- H.Res. 693: Expressing support for the designation of September 9 as “National African Immigrant and …
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 2007 to Jun 2024, Johnson missed 450 of 11,785 roll call votes, which is 3.8%. This is worse than 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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
