Rep. Maxine Waters
Representative for California’s 43rd District
pronounced mak-SEEN // WAH-terz
Waters is the representative for California’s 43rd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Jan 3, 2013. Waters is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. She is 85 years old.
She was previously the representative for California’s 35th congressional district as a Democrat from 1993 to 2012; and the representative for California’s 29th congressional district as a Democrat from 1991 to 1992.
![Photo of Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA43]](/static/legislator-photos/400422-200px.jpeg)
Earmarks
Waters proposed $46 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $10 million to Noel Jones Empowerment Village for “Noel Jones Empowerment Village Project”
- $8 million to Compton Community College District for “Compton College Vocational Technology Building Renovation Project”
- $4 million to City of Compton for “Compton Street Safety Improvement Project”
View all requests and justifications on Waters’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
Waters 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 Waters has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Apr 20, 2024. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Maxine Waters sits on the following committees:
- House Committee on Financial Services Ranking Member
Enacted Legislation
Waters was the primary sponsor of 9 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 6340 (117th): To establish the United States policy on Burma at the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, and the Asian Development Bank, and for other purposes.
- H.R. 4111 (117th): Sovereign Debt Contract Capacity Act
- H.R. 1725 (117th): Emergency Assistance for Renters Act of 2021
- H.R. 1724 (117th): Emergency Housing Voucher Act of 2021
- H.R. 3827 (114th): Project-Based Voucher Improvement Act of 2015
- H.R. 5569 (111th): National Flood Insurance Program Extension Act of 2010
- H.R. 4573 (111th): Haiti Debt Relief and Earthquake Recovery Act of 2010
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
Waters sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Finance and Financial Sector (36%) Housing and Community Development (24%) Health (12%) International Affairs (9%) Armed Forces and National Security (7%) Crime and Law Enforcement (5%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Waters recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 7815: Mamas and Babies in Underserved Communities Act of 2024
- H.R. 7462: Wildfire Insurance Coverage Study Act of 2023
- H.R. 6949: Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2024
- H.R. 6948: Strengthening Housing Supply Act of 2024
- H.R. 6456: Confronting Police Violence Against Children Act of 2023
- H.R. 6365: Stopping Illicit Oil Shipments Act of 2023
- H.R. 6362: Protecting Benefits for Disabled Veterans Act of 2023
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1991 to Apr 2024, Waters missed 1,430 of 20,916 roll call votes, which is 6.8%. This is much 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
