Vote Smart provides easy access to congressional and state voting records and maintains a collection of key votes grouped by issue. Vote Smart uses the following criteria to select key votes:
Vote Smart provides a summary of the version of the bill text associated with each selected key vote. Our summaries are written by Vote Smart's staff and interns, who adhere to our strict policies and procedures in order to guarantee absolute impartiality and accuracy. They do not necessarily reflect the content of the final version of the bill, but rather the version voted on in that stage. While many procedural votes take place before a full chamber vote, our voting stages reflect the final reading of each chamber vote. Each key vote selection is reviewed by the project's community of advisors, who are political scientists and journalists from all fifty states.
For more information about the legislative process, see here.
Date | State | Bill No. | Title | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|
Feb. 16, 2010 | NM | HB 231 | Authorizing Education Retirement Board Pension Disclosure | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 18) |
Feb. 12, 2010 | NM | SB 112 | Authorizing Severance Tax Bonds and Allocating Proceeds | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 17) |
Feb. 9, 2010 | National | PN 1351 | Craig Becker, Member of the National Labor Relations Board | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (52 - 33) |
Feb. 9, 2010 | WA | SB 6382 | Extending State Employee Salary Freeze | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (33 - 15) |
Feb. 9, 2010 | MN | SF 2360 | Construction Projects Authorizations and Appropriations | Bill Passed - Senate (52 - 14) |
Feb. 8, 2010 | VA | SB 239 | Unemployment Benefit Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (31 - 9) |
Feb. 8, 2010 | VA | SB 66 | Prohibiting Sexual Orientation Discrimination in State Government Employment | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 17) |
Feb. 4, 2010 | IA | SF 2062 | State Worker Retirement Incentive Program | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (41 - 6) |
Feb. 1, 2010 | CO | SB 1 | Public Employee Retirement Association Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 10) |
Jan. 27, 2010 | SD | SB 18 | Restrictions on Retirement for Rehired Public Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 10) |
Jan. 13, 2010 | IL | SB 315 | Teacher Evaluation Amendments | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (48 - 4) |
Jan. 12, 2010 | IN | SB 23 | Unemployment Tax Law Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (33 - 17) |
Dec. 17, 2009 | OH | HB 318 | Tax Law Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (17 - 15) |
Dec. 3, 2009 | MI | SB 638 | "Consistent Ineffectiveness" as Grounds for Discharging or Demoting Tenured Teachers | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 13) |
Nov. 18, 2009 | MA | S 2210 | Sentencing Law Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 12) |
Sept. 4, 2009 | CA | AB 793 | Clarifying Statute of Limitations for Wage Discrimination Lawsuits | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 16) |
Aug. 26, 2009 | PA | HB 1828 | Municipal Pension System Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (38 - 9) |
Aug. 14, 2009 | AL | HB 13 | Authorizes an Occupational Tax for Jefferson County | Bill Passed - Senate (12 - 9) |
July 1, 2009 | DE | HB 290 | 2009-2010 Budget | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 4) |
June 25, 2009 | NJ | A 4111 | State Employee Wage Increases | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 15) |
June 25, 2009 | NJ | A 3372 | Wages in Board of Public Utilities Construction Projects | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 9) |
June 23, 2009 | OR | HB 3300 | Promoting Green Jobs | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 7) |
June 18, 2009 | MA | S 2087 | Massachusetts Transportation Agency Consolidation | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (27 - 11) |
June 8, 2009 | OR | SB 519 | Mandatory Workplace Meetings | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 14) |
May 31, 2009 | NV | AB 395 | Allowing State Employee Collective Bargaining | Bill Passed - Senate (13 - 8) |
May 27, 2009 | RI | S 659 | Minimum Wage | Bill Passed - Senate (31 - 6) |
May 26, 2009 | CA | SB 219 | Extending Whistle-Blower Protection to UC Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 14) |
May 1, 2009 | FL | HB 903 | Capping Attorney Fees in Workers' Compensation Lawsuits | Motion Agreed - Senate (22 - 16) |
April 28, 2009 | WI | SB 20 | Discriminatory Pay Compensation | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 15) |
April 28, 2009 | CO | HB 1170 | Allowing Locked-Out Employees to Collect Unemployment Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 14) |
April 23, 2009 | CA | SB 789 | Amending Unionization Requirements for Agricultural Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 14) |
April 16, 2009 | ID | S 1166 | Workers' Compensation Dividend Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 7) |
April 14, 2009 | HI | HB 952 | Amending Unionization Requirements | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 4) |
April 13, 2009 | CO | SB 281 | Clarifying Pinnacol Assurance as a Subdivision of the State | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 15) |
April 13, 2009 | CO | SB 273 | Appropriation of Pinnacol Assurance Funds | Bill Passed - Senate (19 - 14) |
April 10, 2009 | MD | HB 310 | Extending Unemployment Benefits to Part-Time Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (38 - 9) |
April 3, 2009 | ID | H 173 | Restricting Eligibility for State Retiree Health Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 8) |
March 24, 2009 | IN | HB 1379 | Unemployment Benefit Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (30 - 20) |
March 16, 2009 | NJ | S 21 | Local Government PERS/PFRS Contribution Deferral | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 17) |
March 13, 2009 | WV | SB 238 | Ban on Sexual Orientation Discrimination | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 10) |
March 12, 2009 | TN | SB 83 | "Living" Wage Requirements | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 13) |
March 12, 2009 | WA | SB 6035 | Retrospective Ratings Program Regulations | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 24) |
March 6, 2009 | UT | HJR 8 | Mandating Secret Ballots | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 8) |
Feb. 24, 2009 | CO | SB 88 | Extending State Employee Health Benefits to Domestic Partners | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 11) |
Feb. 19, 2009 | KS | SB 160 | Increasing Minimum Wage | Bill Passed - Senate (33 - 7) |
Feb. 16, 2009 | IA | SF 137 | Wage Discrimination Policy and Penalties | Bill Passed - Senate (32 - 18) |
Feb. 10, 2009 | WI | SB 1 | Minimum Wage Increase | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 14) |
Feb. 6, 2009 | WY | SF 18 | Expanding Workers Compensation Coverage to Include Mental Injury | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 13) |
Feb. 5, 2009 | MI | SB 93 | Prohibiting Mandatory Workplace Ergonomics Rules | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 16) |
Feb. 3, 2009 | MT | SB 253 | Allowing Employers to Count Tips as Credit Against Minimum Wage | Motion Rejected - Senate (21 - 29) |
Aug. 27, 2008 | CA | AB 2386 | Agricultural Union Election Law Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 15) |
Aug. 20, 2008 | CA | AB 2279 | Prohibiting Employment Discrimination Against Medical Marijuana Patients | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 15) |
Aug. 14, 2008 | CA | AB 1107 | Drought-Related Unemployment Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (29 - 10) |
Aug. 5, 2008 | CA | AB 2001 | Whistleblower Hotline | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 8) |
June 23, 2008 | CT | HB 5105 | Minimum Wage Increase | Veto Override Passed - Senate (25 - 9) |
June 23, 2008 | NJ | S 1962 | State Worker Retirement and Health Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (31 - 8) |
June 18, 2008 | DE | SB 280 | Minimum Wage Increase for Tipped Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (11 - 8) |
June 4, 2008 | PA | SB 246 | Smoking Ban | Conference Report Rejected - Senate (19 - 31) |
May 22, 2008 | MS | SB 2011 | Increasing Unemployment Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (46 - 3) |
May 15, 2008 | CA | SB 1322 | Communist Party Membership | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 16) |
May 14, 2008 | SC | H 3032 | Immigration Reform | Concurrence Vote Failed - Senate (20 - 26) |
May 8, 2008 | MN | SF 875 | Minimum Wage Increase | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (40 - 18) |
May 8, 2008 | NH | HB 1436 | Automatic Continuation Clause in Collective Bargaining Agreements | Bill Passed - Senate (13 - 11) |
May 5, 2008 | CO | SB 200 | Sexual Orientation Nondiscrimination | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (20 - 15) |
May 5, 2008 | CT | HB 5105 | Minimum Wage Increase | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 11) |
May 2, 2008 | CO | HB 1325 | Seasonal Foreign Worker Pilot Program | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 15) |
May 1, 2008 | CT | SB 217 | Mandatory Sick Leave | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 16) |
April 28, 2008 | AZ | HB 2745 | Amending Undocumented Immigrant Employment Sanctions | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 4) |
April 10, 2008 | NE | LB 1082 | Expanding Workers' Compensation Benefits | Motion Rejected - Senate (22 - 18) |
March 28, 2008 | CO | SB 122 | Wage Transparency Act | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (19 - 14) |
March 26, 2008 | KS | Huelskamp Amnd. 1 | Employment Verification | Amendment Rejected - Senate (11 - 27) |
March 26, 2008 | KS | Brownlee Amnd. | Prohibits Union from collecting dues from Undocumented Workers | Amendment Adopted - Senate (19 - 18) |
March 26, 2008 | KS | Barnett Amnd. | Bartlett Amendment | Amendment Rejected - Senate (12 - 27) |
March 24, 2008 | IA | HF 2645 | Public Employee Collective Bargaining and Teacher Termination Policy | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 23) |
March 20, 2008 | NH | SB 502 | Expanding Unemployment Compensation Eligibility | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 8) |
Date | No. | Title | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|
2/16 | HB 231 | Authorizing Education Retirement Board Pension Disclosure | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 18) |
2/12 | SB 112 | Authorizing Severance Tax Bonds and Allocating Proceeds | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 17) |
2/09 | PN 1351 | Craig Becker, Member of the National Labor Relations Board | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (52 - 33) |
2/09 | SB 6382 | Extending State Employee Salary Freeze | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (33 - 15) |
2/09 | SF 2360 | Construction Projects Authorizations and Appropriations | Bill Passed - Senate (52 - 14) |
2/08 | SB 239 | Unemployment Benefit Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (31 - 9) |
2/08 | SB 66 | Prohibiting Sexual Orientation Discrimination in State Government Employment | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 17) |
2/04 | SF 2062 | State Worker Retirement Incentive Program | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (41 - 6) |
2/01 | SB 1 | Public Employee Retirement Association Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 10) |
1/27 | SB 18 | Restrictions on Retirement for Rehired Public Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 10) |
1/13 | SB 315 | Teacher Evaluation Amendments | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (48 - 4) |
1/12 | SB 23 | Unemployment Tax Law Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (33 - 17) |
12/17 | HB 318 | Tax Law Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (17 - 15) |
12/03 | SB 638 | "Consistent Ineffectiveness" as Grounds for Discharging or Demoting Tenured Teachers | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 13) |
11/18 | S 2210 | Sentencing Law Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 12) |
9/04 | AB 793 | Clarifying Statute of Limitations for Wage Discrimination Lawsuits | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 16) |
8/26 | HB 1828 | Municipal Pension System Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (38 - 9) |
8/14 | HB 13 | Authorizes an Occupational Tax for Jefferson County | Bill Passed - Senate (12 - 9) |
7/01 | HB 290 | 2009-2010 Budget | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 4) |
6/25 | A 4111 | State Employee Wage Increases | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 15) |
6/25 | A 3372 | Wages in Board of Public Utilities Construction Projects | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 9) |
6/23 | HB 3300 | Promoting Green Jobs | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 7) |
6/18 | S 2087 | Massachusetts Transportation Agency Consolidation | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (27 - 11) |
6/08 | SB 519 | Mandatory Workplace Meetings | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 14) |
5/31 | AB 395 | Allowing State Employee Collective Bargaining | Bill Passed - Senate (13 - 8) |
5/27 | S 659 | Minimum Wage | Bill Passed - Senate (31 - 6) |
5/26 | SB 219 | Extending Whistle-Blower Protection to UC Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 14) |
5/01 | HB 903 | Capping Attorney Fees in Workers' Compensation Lawsuits | Motion Agreed - Senate (22 - 16) |
4/28 | SB 20 | Discriminatory Pay Compensation | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 15) |
4/28 | HB 1170 | Allowing Locked-Out Employees to Collect Unemployment Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 14) |
4/23 | SB 789 | Amending Unionization Requirements for Agricultural Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 14) |
4/16 | S 1166 | Workers' Compensation Dividend Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 7) |
4/14 | HB 952 | Amending Unionization Requirements | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 4) |
4/13 | SB 281 | Clarifying Pinnacol Assurance as a Subdivision of the State | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 15) |
4/13 | SB 273 | Appropriation of Pinnacol Assurance Funds | Bill Passed - Senate (19 - 14) |
4/10 | HB 310 | Extending Unemployment Benefits to Part-Time Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (38 - 9) |
4/03 | H 173 | Restricting Eligibility for State Retiree Health Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 8) |
3/24 | HB 1379 | Unemployment Benefit Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (30 - 20) |
3/16 | S 21 | Local Government PERS/PFRS Contribution Deferral | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 17) |
3/13 | SB 238 | Ban on Sexual Orientation Discrimination | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 10) |
3/12 | SB 83 | "Living" Wage Requirements | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 13) |
3/12 | SB 6035 | Retrospective Ratings Program Regulations | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 24) |
3/06 | HJR 8 | Mandating Secret Ballots | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 8) |
2/24 | SB 88 | Extending State Employee Health Benefits to Domestic Partners | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 11) |
2/19 | SB 160 | Increasing Minimum Wage | Bill Passed - Senate (33 - 7) |
2/16 | SF 137 | Wage Discrimination Policy and Penalties | Bill Passed - Senate (32 - 18) |
2/10 | SB 1 | Minimum Wage Increase | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 14) |
2/06 | SF 18 | Expanding Workers Compensation Coverage to Include Mental Injury | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 13) |
2/05 | SB 93 | Prohibiting Mandatory Workplace Ergonomics Rules | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 16) |
2/03 | SB 253 | Allowing Employers to Count Tips as Credit Against Minimum Wage | Motion Rejected - Senate (21 - 29) |
8/27 | AB 2386 | Agricultural Union Election Law Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 15) |
8/20 | AB 2279 | Prohibiting Employment Discrimination Against Medical Marijuana Patients | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 15) |
8/14 | AB 1107 | Drought-Related Unemployment Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (29 - 10) |
8/05 | AB 2001 | Whistleblower Hotline | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 8) |
6/23 | HB 5105 | Minimum Wage Increase | Veto Override Passed - Senate (25 - 9) |
6/23 | S 1962 | State Worker Retirement and Health Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (31 - 8) |
6/18 | SB 280 | Minimum Wage Increase for Tipped Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (11 - 8) |
6/04 | SB 246 | Smoking Ban | Conference Report Rejected - Senate (19 - 31) |
5/22 | SB 2011 | Increasing Unemployment Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (46 - 3) |
5/15 | SB 1322 | Communist Party Membership | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 16) |
5/14 | H 3032 | Immigration Reform | Concurrence Vote Failed - Senate (20 - 26) |
5/08 | SF 875 | Minimum Wage Increase | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (40 - 18) |
5/08 | HB 1436 | Automatic Continuation Clause in Collective Bargaining Agreements | Bill Passed - Senate (13 - 11) |
5/05 | SB 200 | Sexual Orientation Nondiscrimination | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (20 - 15) |
5/05 | HB 5105 | Minimum Wage Increase | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 11) |
5/02 | HB 1325 | Seasonal Foreign Worker Pilot Program | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 15) |
5/01 | SB 217 | Mandatory Sick Leave | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 16) |
4/28 | HB 2745 | Amending Undocumented Immigrant Employment Sanctions | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 4) |
4/10 | LB 1082 | Expanding Workers' Compensation Benefits | Motion Rejected - Senate (22 - 18) |
3/28 | SB 122 | Wage Transparency Act | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (19 - 14) |
3/26 | Huelskamp Amnd. 1 | Employment Verification | Amendment Rejected - Senate (11 - 27) |
3/26 | Brownlee Amnd. | Prohibits Union from collecting dues from Undocumented Workers | Amendment Adopted - Senate (19 - 18) |
3/26 | Barnett Amnd. | Bartlett Amendment | Amendment Rejected - Senate (12 - 27) |
3/24 | HF 2645 | Public Employee Collective Bargaining and Teacher Termination Policy | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 23) |
3/20 | SB 502 | Expanding Unemployment Compensation Eligibility | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 8) |