Former member of Congress · last served 113th Congress
William L. Owens
William Owens was a Democratic U.S. representative from New York, first elected to Congress in 2009, who voted with most Democrats on 75% of the 112th Congress’s yes/no votes.
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.
5 most recent votes
- YeaOn Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendments — American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Agreeing to the Resolution — Providing for consideration of the Senate amendments to the bill (H.R. 8) to extend certain tax relief provisions enacted in 2001 and…Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Concur in the Senate Amendment — Drywall Safety Act of 2012Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Concur in the Senate Amendment — To provide for the conveyance of certain property from the United States to the Maniilaq Association located in Kotzebue, Alaska.Jan 1, 2013 · Passed
- YeaOn Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass — Congressional Pay Freeze and Fiscal Responsibility ActJan 1, 2013 · Passed
5 most recent bills
- H.R. 5291 To amend the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States with respect to goods exported for processing abroad and reimported, and for other purposes.Jul 30, 2014 · Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
- H.R. 5251 Incentivizing Foreign Investment to Upgrade America's Infrastructure Act of 2014Jul 29, 2014 · Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
- H.R. 3609 To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 3260 Broad Street in Port Henry, New York, as the "Dain Taylor Venne Post Office…Mar 12, 2014 · Ordered to be Reported by Unanimous Consent.
- H.R. 3975 To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for low vision devices under Medicare, and for other purposes.Jan 29, 2014 · Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the…
- H.R. 2250 Spending Reduction ActJun 4, 2013 · Referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the…
Top bills sponsored
- H.R. 4748 (111th) Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy Act of 2010Became law
- H.Res. 1217 (111th) Honoring Fort Drum's soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division for their past and continuing contributions to the security of the United States.Passed a chamber
- H.Res. 1467 (111th) Requesting return of official papers on H.R. 5136.Passed a chamber
- H.R. 6139 (111th) To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 482 East Main Street in Malone, New York, as the "Almanzo Wilder Post Office Building".28 cosponsors
- H.R. 417 (112th) Small Business Tax Relief Act of 201121 cosponsors
- H.R. 1139 (113th) Strengthening America's Public Schools Through Promoting Foreign Investment Act7 cosponsors
- H.R. 1140 (113th) Family Friendly HSA Improvement Act of 20135 cosponsors
- H.R. 2097 (112th) Military Families Affordable Homes Act of 20115 cosponsors
Laws first, then bills that passed a chamber, were reported from committee, or drew the most cosponsors.
Elections Rep. Owens has won
Rep. Owens has won 2 U.S. House elections (2010–2012). Of the contested races, margins ran from 1.1 to 1.9 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 New York’s 21st district done while Rep. Owens served?
2013 to 2014 in NY-21: typical household income was about the same after inflation, the share of people below the poverty line was about the same, and the share of workers looking for a job was down 2.1 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 New York’s 21st district during Owens’s time representing it (2013 to 2015). 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. NY-21 was redrawn in 2012, 2022 and again in 2024 (the survey year the new lines first appear), but every survey year in Owens’s term so far (2013 and 2014) uses the same lines, so they can be compared. The Census Bureau has no 2020 yearly estimate.
Official records on bills this member sponsored
113th 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 | 15 | See the 15 → |
| 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 113th 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 · latest recorded House vote Sep 16, 2026 · Sources: Congress.gov, Senate.gov, House Clerk, Appropriations Committee earmark tables. PORKER is non-partisan.