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. 1, 2011 | National | S 1917 | Extends Payroll Tax Cut and Establishes Tax on Income Over $1 Million | Motion Rejected - Senate (51 - 49) |
Dec. 1, 2011 | National | S 1931 | Reduces Payroll Tax Rate | Motion Rejected - Senate (20 - 78) |
Nov. 10, 2011 | National | S Amdt 928 | American Jobs and Economic Growth | Amendment Rejected - Senate (40 - 56) |
Oct. 11, 2011 | National | S 1660 | American Jobs Act of 2011 | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (50 - 49) |
Sept. 22, 2011 | National | S Amdt 633 | Extends Trade Adjustment Assistance | Amendment Adopted - Senate (69 - 28) |
Sept. 21, 2011 | National | S Amdt 625 | Reducing and Extending Trade Adjustment Assistance | Amendment Rejected - Senate (46 - 53) |
Sept. 21, 2011 | National | S Amdt 641 | Requires Extension of Trade Adjustment Assistance to be Contingent Upon Ratification of Free Trade Agreements with Columbia, Korea and Panama | Amendment Rejected - Senate (44 - 54) |
Sept. 21, 2011 | National | S Amdt 642 | Modifies Eligibility Requirements for Trade Adjustment Assistance | Amendment Rejected - Senate (40 - 57) |
Feb. 15, 2011 | National | S Amdt 14 | Prohibiting Transportation Security Administration Employees from Collective Bargaining | Amendment Rejected - Senate (47 - 51) |
Dec. 8, 2010 | National | S 3991 | Allowing Collective Bargaining for Public Safety Officers | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (55 - 43) |
Nov. 17, 2010 | National | S 3772 | Paycheck Fairness Act | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (58 - 41) |
Sept. 28, 2010 | National | S 3816 | Tax Law Amendments | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (53 - 45) |
March 25, 2010 | National | HR 4872 | Health Care Reconciliation Act | Bill Passed - Senate (56 - 43) |
March 17, 2010 | National | HR 2847 | Employment, Infrastructure, and Transportation Appropriations and Tax Credits ("Senate Jobs Bill") | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (68 - 29) |
Feb. 24, 2010 | National | HR 2847 | Employment, Infrastructure, and Transportation Appropriations and Tax Credits ("Senate Jobs Bill") | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (70 - 28) |
Feb. 22, 2010 | National | HR 2847 | Employment, Infrastructure, and Transportation Appropriations and Tax Credits ("Senate Jobs Bill") | Cloture Invoked - Senate (62 - 30) |
Feb. 9, 2010 | National | PN 1351 | Craig Becker, Member of the National Labor Relations Board | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (52 - 33) |
Feb. 9, 2010 | National | PN 1351 | Craig Becker, Member of the National Labor Relations Board | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (52 - 33) |
Jan. 22, 2009 | National | S 181 | Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 | Bill Passed - Senate (61 - 36) |
July 31, 2008 | National | HR 4040 | Consumer Product Safety Commission Bill | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (89 - 3) |
April 23, 2008 | National | HR 2831 | Equal Pay Bill | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (56 - 42) |
March 13, 2008 | National | S Amdt 4259 | Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment | Amendment Adopted - Senate (53 - 45) |
March 6, 2008 | National | HR 4040 | Consumer Product Safety Commission Bill | Bill Passed - Senate (79 - 13) |
June 26, 2007 | National | HR 800 | Union Organization Bill | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (51 - 48) |
May 24, 2007 | National | HR 2206 | Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007 | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (80 - 14) |