Chair, Franklin County Board

Member, Franklin County Board

Member, Licensed Activities and Pensions, Illinois State Senate

Senator, Illinois State Senate, District 59, 2003-2017

Representative, Illinois State House, 2001-2003

Appointed, Senator, Illinois State Senate, 2003

Former Member, Committee of the Whole, Illinois State Senate

Former Member, Energy and Public Utilities, Illinois State Senate

Member, Franklin-Williamson Human Services Board

Former Member, Insurance Committee, Illinois State Senate

Former Chair, Labor Committee, Illinois State Senate

Former Chairperson, Labor Committee, Illinois State Senate

Former Member, Licensed Activities Committee, Illinois State Senate

Farmer

Owner, Forby Excavating

Member, Elk's Club

Member, Operating Engineers and Laborers International

Member, Shriners

Member, Southern Illinois Workforce Man-Tra-Con Board, present

Number of Grandchildren:

1

Priority Issues:

- Putting Southern Illinois back to work

The best way to get our economy on track is by putting people back to work and creating good-paying jobs for the people of Southern Illinois. During my time as your State Senator, job creation and attracting businesses to Southern Illinois have been my top priorities.

- Developing and revitalizing Southern Illinois coal technologies

The coal mining industry was once the backbone of our local economy, creating thousands of jobs and generating millions of dollars for our region. Coal is a valuable resource that we have a lot of, and it continues to have a huge impact on the development of our region.

- Working to fix the state budget

As Illinois continues to recover from the nation's historic economic downturn, it is vital that we work together to get people back to work and pay our bills to fix our budget crisis. Now, more than ever, we need to come together and find reasoned solutions during these tough times for the people of our districts.

- Protecting gun owners' rights

Hunting is a strong tradition here in Southern Illinois and our second amendment rights deserve to be protected. This is an issue of fairness for the law-abiding citizens who own a firearm in our district and throughout the State.

- Paying our bills

As a business owner / operator for over 30 years, I know you cannot run a successful business without paying your bills on time. We have an obligation to our local hospitals, school districts and rural health care providers to pay them what they're owed.

Senator Forby has also remained committed to…

- Promoting veterans' health care and their rights

- Ensuring our children's education is affordable and attainable

- Protecting Southern Illinois working families