Forbes was the representative for New York’s 1st congressional district and was most recently a Democrat (1999-2000) and previously a Republican (1995-1999). He served from 1995 to 2000.
![Photo of Rep. Michael Forbes [D-NY1, 1995-2000]](/static/legislator-photos/400582-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Forbes is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot was a member of the House of Representatives in 2000 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 Forbes sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 4, 1995 to Dec 15, 2000. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Forbes was the primary sponsor of 2 bills that were enacted:
- H.R. 3139 (104th): To redesignate the United States Post Office building located at 245 Centereach Mall on Middle Country Road in Centereach, New York, as the “Rose Y. Caracappa United …
- H.R. 1836 (104th): To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire property in the town of East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York, for inclusion in the Amagansett National Wildlife …
Does 2 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
Forbes sponsored bills primarily in these issue areas:
Government Operations and Politics (22%) Transportation and Public Works (15%) Law (13%) Armed Forces and National Security (11%) Taxation (10%) Economics and Public Finance (10%) Social Welfare (9%) Health (9%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Forbes recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.R. 5336 (106th): Conservation and Reinvestment Tax-Incentive Act of 2000
- H.Con.Res. 398 (106th): Expressing the sense of the Congres that a postage stamp should be …
- H.Con.Res. 392 (106th): Expressing the sense of the Congress that a postage stamp should be …
- H.R. 4848 (106th): Violence Against Women Office Act
- H.R. 4720 (106th): Combat Merchant Mariners Veterans Benefits Act of 2000
- H.R. 3798 (106th): To amend section 211 of the Clean Air Act to prohibit the …
- H.R. 2056 (106th): Lebanon Independence Restoration Act of 1999
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Missed Votes
From Jan 1995 to Dec 2000, Forbes missed 240 of 3,741 roll call votes, which is 6.4%. This is much worse than the median of 3.0% among the lifetime records of representatives serving in Dec 2000. The chart below reports missed votes over time.
We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses, major life events, and running for higher office.
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
- Congressional Pictorial Directory for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
