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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Aug. 7, 2008 | CA | AB 1946 | Expanding Enforcement of Water Pollution Laws | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 16) |
Aug. 5, 2008 | CA | AB 2001 | Whistleblower Hotline | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 8) |
Aug. 7, 2008 | CA | AB 2654 | Expanding Anti-Discrimination Laws | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 15) |
May 15, 2008 | CA | SB 1589 | Uncorroborated Jailhouse Informant Testimony Ban | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 14) |
June 4, 2007 | CA | SB 1019 | Access to Police Misconduct Investigations | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 11) |
Aug. 21, 2014 | CA | SB 968 | Authorizes Public Access Route to Martins Beach | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (23 - 9) |
Aug. 31, 2016 | CA | SB 1241 | Amends Current Provisions of Labor Contracts | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (24 - 13) |
Aug. 20, 2012 | CA | SB 9 | Sentence Reconsideration for Juvenile Offenders | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (21 - 17) |
Aug. 31, 2020 | CA | SB 592 | Expands Appropriate Juror Selection Source Lists to Include Resident State Tax Filers | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (30 - 5) |
Aug. 29, 2012 | CA | SB 1476 | Authorizes Courts to Designate More than 2 Individuals as Parents of a Child | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (21 - 13) |
Sept. 9, 2009 | CA | SB 54 | Recognizing Out-of-State Same-Sex Marriages | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (23 - 14) |
Sept. 11, 2009 | CA | SBx3 18 | Correctional Law Amendments | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (21 - 16) |
Aug. 27, 2014 | CA | AB 1014 | Authorizes Gun Violence Restraining Orders | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 8) |
Aug. 31, 2020 | CA | AB 1869 | Repeals Certain Judicial Fees | Bill Passed - Senate (30 - 7) |
June 27, 2022 | CA | AB 1594 | Authorizes Lawsuits Against Gun Industry | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 9) |
Sept. 5, 2019 | CA | AB 51 | Prohibits Forced Employment Arbitration Agreements | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 11) |
Aug. 31, 2020 | CA | AB 3070 | Prohibits the Use of Peremptory Challenge to Remove a Prospective Juror on the Basis of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexual Orientation, or Religious Affiliation | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 16) |
Aug. 31, 2020 | CA | AB 3234 | Authorizes Judges to Offer Misdemeanor Diversion Programs to Certain Defendants | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 10) |
July 5, 2012 | CA | AB 1081 | Prohibits Excessive Detention of Undocumented Immigrants | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 13) |
Aug. 22, 2012 | CA | AB 472 | Authorizes Immunity for Reporting Drug Overdoses | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 16) |
Sept. 8, 2009 | CA | AB 2 | Health Care Law Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 13) |
Aug. 27, 2012 | CA | AB 2346 | Authorizes Farm Workers to Sue Employers for Health or Safety Violations | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 12) |
May 7, 2015 | CA | SB 227 | Prohibits Grand Juries from Investigating Certain Cases | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 12) |
Sept. 4, 2009 | CA | AB 793 | Clarifying Statute of Limitations for Wage Discrimination Lawsuits | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 16) |
June 2, 2010 | CA | SB 399 | Authorizing Youth Offenders to Appeal Life Without Parole Sentences | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 15) |
May 20, 2013 | CA | SB 439 | Exempts Certain Medical Marijuana Collectives and Cooperatives from Prosecution | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 12) |
June 1, 2010 | CA | SB 1168 | Grand Juries for Misdemeanors in the County of Los Angeles | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 9) |
May 28, 2014 | CA | SB 968 | Requires Public Access Route to Martin's Beach | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 11) |
May 30, 2012 | CA | SB 1476 | Authorizes Courts to Designate More than 2 Individuals as Parents of a Child | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 13) |
June 3, 2010 | CA | SB 1113 | Income Tax Appeal Modifications | Bill Failed - Senate (15 - 20) |
May 31, 2012 | CA | SB 1506 | Reduces Charges for Possession of Controlled Substances | Bill Failed - Senate (11 - 24) |