Key Votes
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About the Selection and Descriptions of Key Votes
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:
- The vote should be helpful in portraying how a member stands on a particular issue
- The vote should be clear for any person to understand
- The vote has received media attention
- The vote was passed or defeated by a very close margin
- Occasionally, if a specific bill is consistently inquired about on the Voter's Research Hotline, the vote will be added
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.
results per page:
| Date | State | Bill No. | Title | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 6, 2020 | HI | HB 285 | Requires Law Enforcement Transparency | Conference Report Adopted - House (37 - 14) |
| March 3, 2020 | WA | SB 5165 | Prohibits Discrimination Based on Citizenship or Immigration Status | Bill Passed - House (57 - 39) |
| March 3, 2020 | WA | SB 5165 | Prohibits Discrimination Based on Citizenship or Immigration Status | Bill Passed - House (57 - 39) |
| June 11, 2020 | OH | HB 164 | Authorizes Religious Expression in Public Schools | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (90 - 3) |
| Jan. 15, 2020 | National | HR 1230 | Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act | Bill Passed - House (261 - 155) |
| Jan. 15, 2020 | VA | HJ 1 | Establishes an Amendment to the US Constitution Relating to Equal Rights | Bill Passed - House (59 - 41) |
| Jan. 15, 2020 | WV | HB 4007 | Establishes Requirements for Abortions Resulting in Premature Birth | Bill Passed - House (93 - 5) |
| Feb. 26, 2020 | VA | SB 35 | Authorizes Localities to Prohibit Guns at Public Events | Bill Passed - House (53 - 46) |
| March 5, 2020 | VA | SB 70 | Requires Background Check for Firearm Transfers | Conference Report Adopted - House (54 - 46) |
| Jan. 13, 2020 | NJ | S 758 | Requires Incarcerated Individuals Count in Legislative Redistricting | Bill Passed - House (54 - 22) |
| Jan. 13, 2020 | NJ | S 758 | Requires Incarcerated Individuals Count in Legislative Redistricting | Bill Passed - House (54 - 22) |
| Jan. 29, 2020 | National | S 3201 | Temporary Reauthorization and Study of the Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act | Bill Passed - House (320 - 88) |
| Jan. 29, 2020 | SD | HB 1057 | Prohibits Gender Reassignment Surgeries on Children Under 16 | Bill Passed - House (46 - 23) |
| Feb. 7, 2020 | WV | HB 4585 | Establishes Criminal Immunity for "Good Faith" Child Abuse or Neglect Reporting | Bill Passed - House (69 - 29) |
| Feb. 6, 2020 | VA | HB 262 | Prohibits Law Enforcement Questioning of an Individual's Immigration Status | Bill Passed - House (57 - 42) |
| Feb. 6, 2020 | VA | HB 262 | Prohibits Law Enforcement Questioning of an Individual's Immigration Status | Bill Passed - House (57 - 42) |
| Jan. 23, 2020 | WA | HB 1010 | Requires the Disposition of Forfeited Firearms | Bill Passed - House (56 - 42) |
| March 3, 2020 | WA | SB 5434 | Establishes Restrictions for Firearms in Daycare and Child Care Facilities | Bill Passed - House (56 - 40) |
| Feb. 6, 2020 | VA | HB 1663 | Prohibits LGBTQ Discrimination | Bill Passed - House (59 - 35) |
| Feb. 6, 2020 | VA | HB 1663 | Prohibits LGBTQ Discrimination | Bill Passed - House (59 - 35) |
| Feb. 11, 2020 | National | HR 1980 | Smithsonian Women's History Museum Act | Bill Passed - House (374 - 37) |
| Jan. 30, 2020 | VA | HB 674 | Authorizes Removing Firearms from Persons Posing Substantial Risk | Bill Passed - House (52 - 46) |
| Feb. 13, 2020 | National | H J Res 79 | Removing the deadline for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment | Bill Passed - House (232 - 183) |
| Feb. 11, 2020 | WI | AB 809 | Prohibits Early Release for Individuals Convicted of Violent Crimes | Bill Passed - House (61 - 37) |
| Feb. 11, 2020 | WI | AB 806 | Amends the Age for Juvenile Incarceration | Bill Passed - House (60 - 38) |
| Feb. 13, 2020 | WA | HB 2467 | Establishes a Background Check System for Firearms Transfers | Bill Passed - House (66 - 32) |
| Feb. 13, 2020 | WA | HB 2638 | Authorizes Sports Betting | Bill Passed - House (83 - 14) |
| Feb. 4, 2020 | VA | HB 1429 | Prohibits Denying or Limiting Coverage based on Gender Identity | Bill Passed - House (54 - 41) |
| Feb. 12, 2020 | WA | HB 2602 | Prohibits Race-Based Hairstyle Discrimination | Bill Passed - House (87 - 10) |
| Feb. 18, 2020 | AZ | HB 2259 | Establishes a Victims of Communism Memorial Day | Bill Passed - House (45 - 15) |
| Feb. 21, 2020 | VA | SB 50 | Prohibits Race-Based Hairstyle Discrimination | Bill Passed - House (71 - 26) |
| Feb. 6, 2020 | VA | HB 108 | Establishes Election Day as a State Holiday | Bill Passed - House (55 - 42) |
| Feb. 18, 2020 | UT | HB 243 | Requires Warning Labels on Pornography | Bill Passed - House (60 - 12) |
| Feb. 6, 2020 | VA | HB 827 | Prohibits Discrimination on the Basis of Pregnancy | Bill Passed - House (66 - 31) |
| Jan. 14, 2020 | MI | HB 4020 | Authorizes the Sale of Stun Guns to Individuals Over the Age of 18 | Bill Passed - House (84 - 24) |
| Feb. 26, 2020 | National | HR 35 | Emmett Till Antilynching Act | Bill Passed - House (410 - 4) |
| Feb. 26, 2020 | National | HR 35 | Emmett Till Antilynching Act | Bill Passed - House (410 - 4) |
| Feb. 21, 2020 | VA | SB 657 | Authorizes Replacement Birth Certificates for Transgender Individuals | Bill Passed - House (52 - 45) |
| Feb. 26, 2020 | UT | SB 102 | Reduces Criminal Penalties for Polygamy | Bill Passed - House (70 - 3) |
| Feb. 26, 2020 | UT | SB 102 | Reduces Criminal Penalties for Polygamy | Bill Passed - House (70 - 3) |
| Feb. 4, 2020 | MD | HB 4 | Requires Background Checks for Private Sales of Long Guns | Bill Passed - House (87 - 47) |
| Feb. 27, 2020 | MN | HF 9 | Authorizes Extreme Risk Productive Orders | Bill Passed - House (68 - 62) |
| Feb. 11, 2020 | WV | HB 4069 | Prohibits Religious Discrimination in Public Schools | Bill Passed - House (76 - 22) |
| Feb. 11, 2020 | WV | HB 4069 | Prohibits Religious Discrimination in Public Schools | Bill Passed - House (76 - 22) |
| Feb. 27, 2020 | ID | H 509 | Prohibits Gender Change on Birth Certificates | Bill Passed - House (53 - 16) |
| March 3, 2020 | AZ | HB 2706 | Prohibits Transgender Female Students from Sports Designated for Females | Bill Passed - House (31 - 29) |
| Feb. 11, 2020 | VA | HB 961 | Prohibits the Sale or Transportation of Assault Weapons or Magazines Holding 12 or More Rounds | Bill Passed - House (51 - 48) |
| Feb. 26, 2020 | ID | H 500 | Prohibits Transgender Female Students from Sports designated for Females | Bill Passed - House (52 - 17) |
| Feb. 3, 2020 | VA | HB 386 | Prohibits State Funding for Conversion Therapy on Minors | Bill Passed - House (66 - 27) |
| Feb. 3, 2020 | VA | HB 386 | Prohibits State Funding for Conversion Therapy on Minors | Bill Passed - House (66 - 27) |