Bishop is the representative for Georgia’s 2nd congressional district (view map) and is a Democrat. He has served since Jan 5, 1993. Bishop is next up for reelection in 2024 and serves until Jan 3, 2025. He is 75 years old.
Alleged misconduct & resolution
Rep. Bishop was investigated for spending both House office funds and campaign funds for personal use, including on annual holiday gatherings and tuition.
| Jun. 16, 2020 | House Committee on Ethics continue an investigation based on an unpublished February 2020 referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics |
| Jul. 31, 2020 | House Committee on Ethics published the Office of Congressional Ethics Report and Findings and the member's response |
![Photo of Rep. Sanford Bishop [D-GA2]](/static/legislator-photos/400030-200px.jpeg)
Analysis
Ideology–Leadership Chart
Bishop 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 Bishop has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2019 to Jan 30, 2023. See full analysis methodology.
Enacted Legislation
Bishop was the primary sponsor of 16 bills that were enacted. The most recent include:
- H.R. 8350: Senator Johnny Isakson VA Regional Office Act of 2022
- H.R. 8239 (117th): Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023
- H.R. 3475 (117th): To name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Columbus, Georgia, as the Robert S. Poydasheff VA Clinic.
- H.R. 4356: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022
- H.R. 5472 (116th): Jimmy Carter National Historical Park Redesignation Act
- H.R. 7610 (116th): Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021
- H.R. 3164 (116th): Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2020
Does 16 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
Bishop sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:
Armed Forces and National Security (32%) Agriculture and Food (26%) Economics and Public Finance (21%) Health (11%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (11%)
Recently Introduced Bills
Bishop recently introduced the following legislation:
- H.Res. 30: Recognizing the 94th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the 40th anniversary …
- H.R. 333: Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act
- H.R. 8432: Beagle Brigade Act of 2022
- H.R. 8350: Senator Johnny Isakson VA Regional Office Act of 2022
- H.R. 8239 (117th): Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, …
- H.R. 5346 (117th): Equal Access to the Right Nutrition for Military Families (EARN) Act of …
- H.R. 4356: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022
View All » | View Cosponsors »
Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.
Voting Record
Key Votes
Missed Votes
From Jan 1993 to Dec 2022, Bishop missed 701 of 19,122 roll call votes, which is 3.7%. This is worse than the median of 2.0% 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, 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
- GPO Member Guide for the photo
- GovInfo.gov, for sponsored bills
