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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dec. 18, 2019 | PA | SB 501 | Amends Parole, Probation, and Criminal Sentencing Guidelines | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (38 - 11) |
Dec. 18, 2019 | PA | HB 1477 | Authorizes Professional Licenses for Ex-Convicts | Bill Passed - House (193 - 4) |
Dec. 17, 2019 | PA | SB 501 | Amends Parole, Probation, and Criminal Sentencing Guidelines | Bill Passed - House (167 - 29) |
Dec. 16, 2019 | NJ | A 5823 | Authorizes Automatic Voter Registration for Individuals Released from Prison | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 17) |
Dec. 16, 2019 | NJ | A 5823 | Authorizes Automatic Voter Registration for Individuals Released from Prison | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 17) |
Dec. 16, 2019 | NJ | A 4260 | Prohibits the Sale of Certain Toy Guns or Imitation Firearms | Bill Passed - House (54 - 19) |
Dec. 6, 2019 | National | HR 4 | Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 | Bill Passed - House (228 - 187) |
Nov. 25, 2019 | NJ | S 761 | Establishes Inmate Re-Entry Plans | Bill Passed - House (55 - 16) |
Nov. 25, 2019 | NJ | S 2055 | Authorizes Student Financial Aid for Incarcerated Persons | Bill Passed - House (41 - 27) |
Nov. 25, 2019 | NJ | A 5823 | Authorizes Automatic Voter Registration for Individuals Released from Prison | Bill Passed - House (48 - 24) |
Nov. 25, 2019 | NJ | A 5823 | Authorizes Automatic Voter Registration for Individuals Released from Prison | Bill Passed - House (48 - 24) |
Nov. 25, 2019 | NJ | A 1796 | Prohibits a "Gay Panic" Legal Defense | Bill Passed - House (74 - 0) |
Nov. 25, 2019 | NJ | A 1796 | Prohibits a "Gay Panic" Legal Defense | Bill Passed - House (74 - 0) |
Nov. 25, 2019 | NJ | A 5816 | Reduces the Penalty for Certain Parole Violations | Bill Passed - House (47 - 24) |
Nov. 21, 2019 | PA | HB 49 | Authorizes School Police to Make Arrests | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (35 - 14) |
Nov. 20, 2019 | PA | HB 1402 | Establishes and Defines the Crime of Sexual Extortion | Bill Passed - Senate (48 - 0) |
Nov. 19, 2019 | PA | HB 49 | Authorizes School Police to Make Arrests | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (161 - 37) |
Nov. 19, 2019 | National | HR 5084 | Improving Corporate Governance Through Diversity Act of 2019 | Bill Passed - House (281 - 135) |
Nov. 18, 2019 | National | HR 3702 | Reforming Disaster Recovery Act of 2019 | Bill Passed - House (290 - 118) |
Nov. 13, 2019 | National | PN 410 | Nomination of Chad Wolf to be Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans for the Department of Homeland Security | (54 - 41) |
Nov. 13, 2019 | IL | SB 667 | Limits the Cost of Insulin to $100 per 30-day Supply | Bill Passed - House (100 - 13) |
Nov. 13, 2019 | OH | HB 272 | Prohibits State Officials From Changing the Time and Place of an Election | Bill Passed - House (91 - 0) |
Nov. 12, 2019 | National | PN 410 | Nomination of Chad Wolf to be Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans for the Department of Homeland Security | Cloture Invoked - Senate (54 - 40) |
Nov. 5, 2019 | WI | SB 49 | Prohibits Prostitution Charges Against Minors | Bill Passed - Senate (19 - 14) |
Nov. 5, 2019 | MI | HB 5120 | Authorizes Criminal Records Expungement for Certain Crimes | Bill Passed - House (100 - 8) |
Oct. 30, 2019 | NC | SB 250 | Amends Voting Rolls to Correlate with Jury Selection Excusals | Conference Report Adopted - House (59 - 51) |
Oct. 30, 2019 | PA | SB 147 | Establishes Hunting Regulations on Sundays | Bill Passed - House (144 - 54) |
Oct. 29, 2019 | IL | SB 1786 | Prohibits License Suspension for Unpaid Parking Tickets | Bill Passed - House (88 - 27) |
Oct. 29, 2019 | IL | SB 667 | Limits the Cost of Insulin to $100 per 30-day Supply | Bill Passed - Senate (48 - 7) |
Oct. 23, 2019 | PA | HB 49 | Authorizes School Police to Make Arrests | Bill Passed - Senate (28 - 20) |
Sept. 27, 2019 | National | SJ Res 54 | Rescinds a National Emergency Declared by the President on February 15, 2019 | Bill Passed - House (236 - 174) |
Sept. 26, 2019 | National | SJ Res 54 | Rescinds a National Emergency Declared by the President on February 15, 2019 | Bill Passed - Senate (54 - 41) |
Sept. 25, 2019 | National | HR 2203 | Homeland Security Improvement Act | Bill Passed - House (230 - 194) |
Sept. 24, 2019 | MI | HB 4231 | Appropriates $2.2 Billion for the State Corrections Budget for Fiscal Year 2020 | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (22 - 16) |
Sept. 24, 2019 | MI | HB 4231 | Appropriates $2.2 Billion for the State Corrections Budget for Fiscal Year 2020 | Conference Report Adopted - House (58 - 51) |
Sept. 13, 2019 | CA | AB 681 | Requires Voter Party Affiliation Notification Prior To Primary Elections | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (65 - 13) |
Sept. 13, 2019 | CA | SB 61 | Prohibits Purchasing More than One Gun per Month | Bill Passed - House (55 - 22) |
Sept. 12, 2019 | CA | AB 1215 | Prohibits Facial Recognition in Police Body-Cams | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (47 - 21) |
Sept. 12, 2019 | CA | AB 1215 | Prohibits Facial Recognition in Police Body-Cams | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (47 - 21) |
Sept. 11, 2019 | CA | SB 310 | Authorizes Felons to Serve on Juries | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (29 - 10) |
Sept. 11, 2019 | CA | SB 310 | Authorizes Felons to Serve on Juries | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (29 - 10) |
Sept. 11, 2019 | CA | AB 1215 | Prohibits Facial Recognition in Police Body-Cams | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 15) |
Sept. 11, 2019 | CA | SB 172 | Amends Firearm Storage Regulations | Bill Passed - House (52 - 22) |
Sept. 11, 2019 | CA | AB 1215 | Prohibits Facial Recognition in Police Body-Cams | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 15) |
Sept. 10, 2019 | CA | AB 1076 | Requires Criminal Record Expungement for Individuals Never Convicted | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (52 - 23) |
Sept. 10, 2019 | CA | AB 963 | Establishes a Student Civic and Voter Empowerment Program at Public Post-Secondary Schools | Bill Passed - Senate (29 - 9) |
Sept. 10, 2019 | CA | SB 329 | Prohibits Discrimination Against Section 8 Housing Renters | Bill Passed - House (46 - 21) |
Sept. 10, 2019 | CA | AB 32 | Prohibits Private Prisons and ICE Detention Centers | Bill Passed - Senate (33 - 6) |
Sept. 10, 2019 | CA | AB 681 | Requires Voter Party Affiliation Notification Prior To Primary Elections | Bill Passed - Senate (29 - 11) |
Sept. 9, 2019 | CA | AB 1282 | Prohibits Prisons from Working with ICE Contractors | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (61 - 16) |