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 May 14, 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:
Education (19%) Science, Technology, Communications (19%) Finance and Financial Sector (17%) Health (16%) Armed Forces and National Security (10%) Government Operations and Politics (7%) Immigration (7%) International Affairs (5%)
Recent Bills
Some of Foster’s most recently sponsored bills include...
- H.R. 3274: To establish the National Fab Lab Network, a nonprofit organization consisting of a ...
- H.R. 3040: To amend the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Emergency Paid Sick ...
- H.R. 2620: To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit mandatory pre-dispute arbitration ...
- H.R. 2211: To direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to conduct ...
- H.R. 2140: To prioritize funding for an expanded and sustained national investment in basic science ...
- H.Res. 259: Expressing support for designation of the third Friday of every March, as “National ...
- H.R. 1964: Payer State Transparency Act of 2021
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Mar 2008 to May 2021, Foster missed 74 of 7,067 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
