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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 3, 2015 | CA | SB 350 | Establishes Renewable Energy Production Targets | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 14) |
| June 3, 2015 | CA | SB 185 | Requires Public Retirement Systems to Divest from Coal Companies | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 14) |
| June 3, 2015 | CA | SB 32 | Establishes Certain Greenhouse Gas Emission Regulations | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 15) |
| May 18, 2015 | MN | HF 846 | Requires 50 Foot Buffers around Certain Waterways | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (35 - 30) |
| May 18, 2015 | MN | HF 846 | Requires 50 Foot Buffers around Certain Waterways | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (35 - 30) |
| May 5, 2015 | HI | HB 623 | Requires 100 Percent Dependency on Renewable Energy by 2045 | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (24 - 1) |
| April 28, 2015 | OR | SB 913 | Prohibits Sale of Ivory and Rhino Horn | Bill Passed - Senate (19 - 11) |
| April 23, 2015 | IL | HB 373 | Authorizes Construction of Presidential Libraries and Museums on Park Land | Bill Passed - Senate (39 - 13) |
| April 21, 2015 | MT | SB 284 | Requires County Commissioners to Approve Bison Relocations | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (32 - 18) |
| April 21, 2015 | MT | SB 245 | Authorizes Post-Season Elk Hunting | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (33 - 17) |
| April 14, 2015 | IN | HB 1453 | Authorizes Deer Hunting Preserves | Bill Failed - Senate (23 - 27) |
| March 24, 2015 | MD | SB 458 | Increases Liabilities for Hydraulic Fracturing | Bill Passed - Senate (29 - 17) |
| March 23, 2015 | AZ | HB 2150 | Amends Animal Cruelty Laws | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 12) |
| March 23, 2015 | AZ | HB 2150 | Amends Animal Cruelty Laws | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 12) |
| March 19, 2015 | ND | SB 2351 | Authorizes Corporate Dairy and Swine Farms | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (29 - 16) |
| March 16, 2015 | NJ | S 2791 | Environmental Protection Budget Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 14) |
| March 14, 2015 | WV | HB 2688 | Authorizes Petroleum Drilling Without Consent of all Property Owners | Bill Passed - Senate (24 - 10) |
| March 9, 2015 | MT | HB 212 | Amends Definitions of Fishing, Hunting, and Trapping | Bill Passed - Senate (29 - 21) |
| March 9, 2015 | WA | SB 5735 | Establishes Carbon Reduction Investment as Alternative to Meeting Renewable Energy Targets | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 23) |
| March 9, 2015 | WA | SB 5735 | Establishes Carbon Reduction Investment as Alternative to Meeting Renewable Energy Targets | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 23) |
| March 2, 2015 | WA | SB 5987 | Increases Gas Tax and Amends Transportation Funding | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 22) |
| March 2, 2015 | NM | SB 94 | Authorizes Industrial Hemp Research | Bill Passed - Senate (33 - 8) |
| Feb. 26, 2015 | MT | SB 262 | Establishes Water Rights Compact | Bill Passed - Senate (31 - 19) |
| Feb. 24, 2015 | CO | SB 93 | Requires Compensation for Mineral Rights Owners | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 15) |
| Feb. 24, 2015 | IN | SJR 12 | Authorizes the Use of Diverse Farming and Ranching Practices | Joint Resolution Failed - Senate (22 - 28) |