Rep. Suzan DelBene
Representative for Washington’s 1st District
pronounced SOO-zun // del-BEH-nay
DelBene is the representative for Washington’s 1st congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. She has served since Nov 13, 2012. DelBene is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. She is 62 years old.
![Photo of Rep. Suzan DelBene [D-WA1]](/static/legislator-photos/412505-200px.jpeg)
Earmarks
DelBene proposed $49 million in earmarks for fiscal year 2024, including:
- $8 million to City of Redmond for “City of Redmond AC Water Main Replacement”
- $6 million to The Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians for “SR-530 & Smokey Point Blvd. Roundabout”
- $5 million to Snohomish County for “Snohomish County Food & Farming Center”
View all requests and justifications on DelBene’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
DelBene 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 DelBene has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Apr 12, 2024. See full analysis methodology.
Committee Membership
Suzan DelBene sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
DelBene was the primary sponsor of 8 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 8982 (117th): Bulk Infant Formula to Retail Shelves Act
- H.R. 8810 (116th): National Landslide Preparedness Act
- H.R. 5368 (116th): Faster Access to Federal Student Aid Act of 2019
- H.R. 1261 (116th): National Landslide Preparedness Act
- H.R. 1916 (116th): Save Community Newspaper Act of 2019
- H.R. 1380 (115th): Timber Innovation Act of 2017
- H.R. 1103 (115th): Child Abuse Accountability Enhancement Act
Does 8 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
DelBene sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Taxation (24%) Foreign Trade and International Finance (16%) Health (16%) Labor and Employment (14%) Science, Technology, Communications (12%) Armed Forces and National Security (8%) Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues (6%) Commerce (6%)
Recently Introduced Bills
DelBene recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 7583: Manufacturing Jobs for Veterans Act of 2024
- H.R. 7003: National Landslide Preparedness Act Reauthorization Act of 2024
- H.R. 6622: Clean Competition Act
- H.R. 6295: Remote Seafood Employee Meals Tax Parity Act
- H.R. 5362: SNAP E&T Enhancements Act of 2023
- H.Res. 646: Recognizing the launch of the Redmond Space District in partnership with the City …
- H.Res. 558: Expressing support for the designation of June 26 as “LGBTQI+ Equality Day”.
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Nov 2012 to Apr 2024, DelBene missed 28 of 6,589 roll call votes, which is 0.4%. This is better 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
