Legislator Record
Rep. Cárdenas, Tony [D-CA-29]
House • D • CA
Current Snapshot
Weighted from current tracked reform bills, sponsorship role strength, future-bill priority, and how far each bill has advanced.
Net Impact
13.44
Avg Bill Score
6.72
Tracked Bills
2
Direct Impact Bills
2
Overall Rank
#246 / 375
Lower Half • 35th percentile
Chamber Rank
#231 / 323
29th percentile in House
Party Rank
#244 / 336
28th percentile in D
Current snapshot uses tracked reform bills only. Scores weight primary sponsorship more than cosponsorship, increase with higher-priority future-bill matches, and give additional credit to bills that advanced beyond introduction.
Tracked Bill Roles
Bills this legislator is linked to as a sponsor or cosponsor in the currently loaded scorecard data.
Future Bill Positions
Future-bill concepts connected to this legislator through the linked tracked legislation.
Issue Area Focus
Where this legislator's currently tracked reform-bill activity is concentrated.
Education
Highest linked priority: High
Healthcare
Highest linked priority: High
Related Explainers
Explainers connected to this legislator through the future-bill concepts linked to their tracked activity.
Constitutional Law
Equal Protection Under the Law: What It Means vs. How Its Been Applied
The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment guarantees that no state shall deny any person equal protection under the law. While this principle is foundational to American law, its application has historically been inconsistent, with significant gaps between legal guarantees and real-world outcomes.
Economics
Government Benefits and the Racial Gap
A breakdown of how government assistance, subsidies, and wealth-building programs often benefited white Americans while excluding Black Americans.
Economic Opportunity
Pull Yourself Up by Your Bootstraps vs. Policy Reality
The phrase pull yourself up by your bootstraps is often used to argue that success depends only on individual effort. In practice, American economic mobility has always been shaped by law, public investment, land access, education policy, labor protections, and unequal access to government-backed opportunity.
Economic Opportunity
The GI Bill: Opportunity, Access, and Unequal Outcomes
The GI Bill is often cited as one of the most successful government programs in U.S. history, helping millions of veterans access education, housing, and economic mobility. However, access to these benefits was not equal in practice, particularly for Black veterans.
Related Policies
Policy records reached through the explainers and future-bill concepts tied to this legislator.
Fair Housing Act of 1968
1968 • Law • Democratic Party
Civil Rights Era
Higher Education Act
1965 • Law • Democratic Party
Civil Rights Era
Civil Rights Act of 1964
1964 • Law • Democratic Party
Civil Rights Era
Brown v. Board of Education
1954 • Court Case • No Primary Party
Civil Rights Era
Housing Act of 1949
1949 • Law • Democratic Party
Civil Rights Era
G.I. Bill (Servicemen's Readjustment Act)
1944 • Law • Democratic Party
Civil Rights Era
Fair Labor Standards Act
1938 • Law • Democratic Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement
National Labor Relations Act
1935 • Law • Democratic Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement
National Housing Act of 1934 (FHA Creation)
1934 • Law • Democratic Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement
Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC)
1933 • Program • Democratic Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement
Plessy v. Ferguson
1896 • Court Case • No Primary Party
Jim Crow and Disenfranchisement
14th Amendment
1868 • Amendment • Republican Party
Civil War and Reconstruction
Civil Rights Act of 1866
1866 • Law • Republican Party
Civil War and Reconstruction