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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 22, 2016 | IA | HF 2460 | Appropriates Funding for Health and Human Services | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 23) |
| April 18, 2016 | LA | SB 29 | Authorizes the Sale of Raw Milk | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 12) |
| April 12, 2016 | HI | HB 2501 | Authorizes Extension for Water Permits | Bill Passed - Senate (17 - 6) |
| March 31, 2016 | NH | HB 1696 | Amends Health Protection Program | Bill Passed - Senate (16 - 8) |
| March 30, 2016 | AK | SB 1 | Prohibits Smoking in Public | Bill Passed - Senate (15 - 5) |
| March 23, 2016 | ME | LD 180 | Authorizes Terminally Ill Patients to Use Experimental Treatments | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 11) |
| March 15, 2016 | KY | HB 160 | Establishes 1-for-1 Syringe Exchange Program | Bill Passed - Senate (28 - 10) |
| March 14, 2016 | KY | SB 205 | Establishes Regulations for Nursing Home Advertisements | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 13) |
| March 10, 2016 | IN | SB 165 | Expands Medicaid | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (34 - 16) |
| March 10, 2016 | CA | SB 7 | Increases Smoking Age to 21 | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (26 - 10) |
| March 10, 2016 | CA | SB 5 | Amends Regulations for E-Cigarettes | Concurrence Vote Passed - Senate (26 - 11) |
| March 9, 2016 | MD | SB 198 | Prohibits Certain Pesticides | Bill Passed - Senate (32 - 14) |
| March 8, 2016 | OK | SB 1552 | Prohibits State from Issuing or Renewing Physician Licenses Following the Performance of an Abortion | Bill Passed - Senate (40 - 7) |
| March 7, 2016 | VA | HB 1090 | Rescinds Funds from Certain Abortion Clinics | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 19) |
| March 3, 2016 | MO | SB 919 | Authorizes Breweries to Lease Coolers to Stores | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 14) |
| March 2, 2016 | MS | SB 2238 | Prohibits the Appropriation of Funds to Planned Parenthood | Bill Passed - Senate (34 - 17) |
| March 1, 2016 | IN | HB 1386 | Authorizes Liquor Licenses for State Parks | Bill Passed - Senate (33 - 17) |
| March 1, 2016 | IA | SF 2188 | Authorizes Certain Psychologists to Prescribe Medication | Bill Failed - Senate (24 - 25) |
| March 1, 2016 | OK | SJR 68 | Authorizes the Public to Vote on Beer and Wine Sales | Joint Resolution Passed - Senate (28 - 16) |
| Feb. 29, 2016 | IA | SF 2222 | Authorizes Pharmacists to Dispense Over-the-Counter Birth Control | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 22) |
| Feb. 17, 2016 | TN | SB 1556 | Authorizes Therapists to Decline to Provide Services | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 5) |
| Feb. 11, 2016 | GA | SB 308 | Authorizes Grants to Pregnancy Resource Centers | Bill Passed - Senate (38 - 16) |
| Feb. 3, 2016 | IN | SB 80 | Authorizes Pharmacists to Decline to Sell Certain Cold Medicines | Bill Passed - Senate (41 - 8) |
| Feb. 3, 2016 | IN | SB 80 | Authorizes Pharmacists to Decline to Sell Certain Cold Medicines | Bill Passed - Senate (41 - 8) |
| Feb. 2, 2016 | IN | SB 313 | Prohibits Abortion Based on Gender, Race, or Disability of Fetus | Bill Passed - Senate (35 - 14) |