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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
May 1, 1996 | National | S Amdt 3752 | Citizen Verification Pilot Program Amendment | Amendment Tabled - Senate (54 - 46) |
Nov. 9, 1999 | National | S Amdt 2751 | Two Year Minimum Wage Increase Amendment | Amendment Tabled - Senate (50 - 48) |
March 6, 1998 | National | S Amdt 1708 | Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Amendment | Amendment Tabled - Senate (58 - 37) |
May 18, 1998 | National | S Amdt 2417 | U.S. Citizen Recruitment Amendment | Amendment Tabled - Senate (59 - 39) |
Feb. 22, 2010 | National | HR 2847 | Employment, Infrastructure, and Transportation Appropriations and Tax Credits ("Senate Jobs Bill") | Cloture Invoked - Senate (62 - 30) |
July 10, 1996 | National | S Amdt 4438 | Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 1995 | Amendment Adopted - Senate (61 - 38) |
March 13, 2008 | National | S Amdt 4259 | Immigration Enforcement and Employer Sanctions Amendment | Amendment Adopted - Senate (53 - 45) |
March 21, 2001 | National | S Amdt 134 | Campaign Reform Act - Union Amendment | Amendment Adopted - Senate (69 - 31) |
July 10, 1996 | National | S Amdt 4438 | Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 1995 | Amendment Adopted - Senate (61 - 38) |
June 21, 2006 | National | S Amdt 4322 | Minimum Wage Adjustment Amendment | Amendment Adopted - Senate (52 - 46) |
July 23, 1998 | National | S Amdt 3258 | Temporary Farm Workers Amendment | Amendment Adopted - Senate (68 - 31) |
May 23, 2006 | National | S Amdt 4177 | Employer Verification Amendment | Amendment Adopted - Senate (59 - 39) |
Nov. 9, 1999 | National | S Amdt 2547 | Three Year Minimum Wage Increase Amendment | Amendment Adopted - Senate (54 - 44) |
July 31, 2008 | National | HR 4040 | Consumer Product Safety Commission Bill | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (89 - 3) |
April 8, 2004 | National | HR 3108 | Pension Funding Equity Act of 2004 | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (78 - 19) |
Aug. 2, 1996 | National | HR 3448 | Minimum Wage Increase bill | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (76 - 22) |
Aug. 2, 1996 | National | HR 3103 | Health Insurance Portability bill | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (98 - 0) |
Oct. 3, 1996 | National | HR 3539 | Federal Aviation Authorization Act of 1996 | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (92 - 2) |
Nov. 8, 1997 | National | HR 2264 | Appropriations bill FY98, Labor, HHS, Education | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (91 - 4) |
May 24, 2007 | National | HR 2206 | Emergency Departmental Supplemental Appropriations Bill of 2007 | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (80 - 14) |
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) |
March 6, 2008 | National | HR 4040 | Consumer Product Safety Commission Bill | Bill Passed - Senate (79 - 13) |
July 10, 1996 | National | HR 743 | Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 1995 | Bill Passed - Senate (53 - 46) |
March 25, 2010 | National | HR 4872 | Health Care Reconciliation Act | Bill Passed - Senate (56 - 43) |
Feb. 2, 2000 | National | HR 833 | Bankruptcy Reform bill | Bill Passed - Senate (83 - 14) |
July 9, 1996 | National | HR 3448 | Minimum Wage Increase bill | Bill Passed - Senate (74 - 24) |
July 10, 1996 | National | HR 743 | Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 1995 | Bill Passed - Senate (53 - 46) |
March 6, 2001 | National | S J Res 6 | Ergonomics Regulations Resolution | Joint Resolution Passed - Senate (56 - 44) |
Jan. 22, 2009 | National | S 181 | Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 | Bill Passed - Senate (61 - 36) |
Feb. 6, 2012 | National | HR 658 | Federal Aviation Administration Act of 2012 | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (75 - 20) |
March 22, 2021 | National | PN 78-23 | Nomination of Martin Walsh as Secretary of Labor | Nomination Confirmed - Senate (68 - 29) |
Sept. 26, 2019 | National | PN 1099 | Nomination of Eugene Scalia as the Secretary of Labor | (53 - 44) |
July 20, 2021 | National | PN 126 | Nomination of Jennifer Abruzzo as General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board | Nomination Confirmed - Senate (51 - 50) |
April 10, 2024 | National | H J Res 98 | Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the National Labor Relations Board relating to "Standard for Determining Joint Employer Status". | Joint Resolution Passed - Senate (50 - 48) |
Nov. 7, 2013 | National | S 815 | Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 | Bill Passed - Senate (64 - 32) |
Dec. 1, 2022 | National | H J Res 100 | To provide for a resolution with respect to the unresolved disputes between certain railroads represented by the National Carriers' Conference Committee of the National Railway Labor Conference and certain of their employees. | Joint Resolution Passed - Senate (80 - 15) |
Sept. 25, 2019 | National | PN 1099 | Nomination of Eugene Scalia as the Secretary of Labor | Cloture Invoked - Senate (52 - 42) |
Nov. 4, 2013 | National | S 815 | Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 | Cloture Invoked - Senate (61 - 30) |
March 26, 2015 | National | S Amdt 798 | Deficit-Neutral Reserve Fund for Legislation to Allow Americans to Earn Paid Sick Time | Amendment Adopted - Senate (61 - 39) |
March 15, 2022 | National | S 623 | Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 | Bill Passed - Senate (100 - 0) |
March 7, 2024 | National | S 3853 | A bill to extend the period for filing claims under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act and to provide for compensation under such Act for claims relating to Manhattan Project waste, and to improve compensation for workers involved in uranium mining. | Bill Passed - Senate (69 - 30) |
March 7, 2024 | National | S 3853 | A bill to extend the period for filing claims under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act and to provide for compensation under such Act for claims relating to Manhattan Project waste, and to improve compensation for workers involved in uranium mining. | Bill Passed - Senate (69 - 30) |
Sept. 22, 2011 | National | S Amdt 633 | Extends Trade Adjustment Assistance | Amendment Adopted - Senate (69 - 28) |
April 25, 2012 | National | S 1789 | United States Postal Service Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (62 - 37) |
Sept. 28, 2010 | National | S 3816 | Tax Law Amendments | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (53 - 45) |
Feb. 9, 2010 | National | PN 1351 | Craig Becker, Member of the National Labor Relations Board | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (52 - 33) |
June 26, 2007 | National | HR 800 | Union Organization Bill | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (51 - 48) |
July 12, 1994 | National | S 55 | Striker Replacement | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (53 - 47) |
April 23, 2008 | National | HR 2831 | Equal Pay Bill | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (56 - 42) |