Former member of Congress · last served 111th Congress
Melissa L. Bean
Melissa Bean was a Democratic U.S. representative from Illinois, first elected to Congress in 2005, who sponsored 1 bill that became law (109th–111th Congress).
How we count: “Broke with party” is a yes/no roll call where the member voted against most of their own party on that vote (party as recorded; even splits not counted). “Pork: own share” splits each earmark shared by several members evenly among them.
Recent votes
No recorded roll-call votes in PORKER’s records. Roll-call records start in 2011.
5 most recent bills
- H.Res. 1408 Congratulating the Republic of Serbia's application for European Union membership and recognizing Serbia's active efforts to integrate into Europe and the…May 27, 2010 · Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
- H.R. 5412 Small Business Asset Investment and Modernization (AIM) Act of 2010May 26, 2010 · Referred to the House Committee on Small Business.
- H.R. 5018 Government Audit Reform Act of 2010May 26, 2010 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement.
- H.R. 5030 College Savings Flexibility Act of 2010Apr 15, 2010 · Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
- H.Res. 965 Repealing rule XXVIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives relating to the statutory limit on the public debt.Dec 11, 2009 · Referred to the House Committee on Rules.
Top bills sponsored
- H.R. 1675 (110th) Preservation Approval Process Improvement Act of 2007Became law
- H.R. 3461 (110th) Safeguarding America's Families by Enhancing and Reorganizing New and Efficient Technologies Act of 2007Passed a chamber
- H.R. 1332 (110th) Small Business Lending Improvements Act of 2007Passed a chamber
- H.Res. 1260 (110th) Supporting the goals and ideals of "National Internet Safety Month".Passed a chamber
- H.Res. 455 (110th) Supporting the goals and ideals of National Internet Safety Month.Passed a chamber
- H.R. 4092 (109th) Advocates Dedicated to Older Child Parental Tax Credit (ADOPT) Act of 2005113 cosponsors
- H.Con.Res. 309 (109th) Commending Armed Forces medical personnel for their outstanding care of combat casualties.69 cosponsors
- H.R. 1008 (110th) SAFER NET Act53 cosponsors
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Rep. Bean has won
Rep. Bean has won 3 U.S. House elections (2004–2008). Of the contested races, margins ran from 3.4 to 21.4 points.
Full election history for this seat →
Source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, U.S. House V15 / U.S. Senate V8 (CC0), retrieved 2026-10-18; winners matched to member records by seat and term. Results run through the 2024 elections; nothing from 2026 is shown until it is certified. A margin is a fact about one election, never a score of how well a member represents anyone, and PORKER does not rank members by it.
How has Illinois’s 8th district done while Rep. Bean served?
2005 to 2010 in IL-8: typical household income was down 8% after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was up 2.0 points, and the share of workers looking for a job was up 5.9 points.
Each mini chart has its own scale, fitted to its lines (it does not start at zero), so compare the numbers, not the heights. Teal = district, oxblood = state, grey = U.S.
While they served, not because of them. This shows what happened in Illinois’s 8th district during Bean’s time representing it (2005 to 2011). It does not say what the member did or caused. It is not a score, and PORKER never ranks members on it.
One set of district lines. IL-8 was redrawn in 2012 and again in 2022 (the survey year the new lines first appear), but every survey year in Bean’s term so far (2005 to 2010) uses the same lines, so they can be compared. The Census Bureau has no 2020 yearly estimate.
Official records on bills this member sponsored
111th Congress. What Congress.gov lists for the 15 bills sponsored.
| Record | Bills | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Bills sponsored | 15 | Source: Congress.gov member record, PORKER copy of October 26, 2026 ↗ See them → |
| With a sponsor’s constitutional-authority statement | 0 | None listed |
| With a CBO cost estimate listed | 0 | None listed |
| With a committee report listed | 0 | None listed |
Evidence
- How counted
- Bills where this member is the lead (first-listed) sponsor in the 111th Congress, read from the stored Congress.gov bill records
- Fields
- cboCostEstimates, committeeReports, constitutionalAuthorityStatementText, notes
- PORKER copy refreshed
- October 26, 2026 (nightly)
Read this first. These are counts of records Congress.gov lists. Many bills never get a CBO estimate or a report, so a zero is not a mark against a member. We never show this as a score.
Data as of Oct 26, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.