Foster is the representative for Illinois’s 11th congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 3, 2013. Foster is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.
He was previously the representative for Illinois’s 14th congressional district as a Democrat from 2008 to 2010.
![Photo of Rep. Bill Foster [D-IL11]](/static/legislator-photos/412257-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Legislative Metrics
Read our 2020 Report Card for Foster.
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Foster 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 Foster has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to Jul 27, 2021. See full analysis methodology.
Ratings from Advocacy Organizations
Committee Membership
Bill Foster sits on the following committees:
Enacted Legislation
Foster was the primary sponsor of 3 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 5789 (115th): To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicaid coverage protections for pregnant and post-partum women while receiving inpatient treatment for a substance ...
- H.R. 4960 (114th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 525 N Broadway in Aurora, Illinois, as the “Kenneth M. Christy Post Office Building”.
- H.R. 5278 (111th): To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 405 West Second Street in Dixon, Illinois, as the “President Ronald W. Reagan Post Office ...
Does 3 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
Foster sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Science, Technology, Communications (21%) Finance and Financial Sector (20%) Education (18%) Health (14%) Armed Forces and National Security (9%) Government Operations and Politics (7%) Immigration (7%) Taxation (5%)
Recent Bills
Some of Foster’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 4514: To direct the Secretary of Energy to fund projects to restore and modernize ...
- H.Res. 521: Congratulating and honoring Argonne National Laboratory for achieving 75 years of scientific excellence.
- H.Res. 520: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of Defense ...
- H.R. 4314: To amend title 23, United States Code, with respect to apportionments to States ...
- H.R. 4258: Improving Digital Identity Act of 2021
- H.R. 4259: Strengthening Digital Identity Act of 2021
- H.R. 3899: Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act of 2021
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Mar 2008 to Jul 2021, Foster missed 75 of 7,166 roll call votes, which is 1.0%. This is better than the median of 2.1% 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 and major life events.
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
