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 28, 2009 | CO | HB 1170 | Allowing Locked-Out Employees to Collect Unemployment Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 14) |
| April 28, 2009 | CO | SB 88 | Extending Health Benefits to Domestic Partners of State Employees | Bill Passed - House (34 - 30) |
| April 23, 2009 | CA | SB 789 | Amending Unionization Requirements for Agricultural Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 14) |
| April 16, 2009 | MO | HB 258 | Excluding Tipped Employees from Mandatory Minimum Wage Increases | Bill Passed - House (86 - 74) |
| April 16, 2009 | MO | HB 795 | Minimum Wage and Sales Tax Modifications for Businesses | Bill Passed - House (87 - 70) |
| April 16, 2009 | ID | S 1166 | Workers' Compensation Dividend Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (27 - 7) |
| April 14, 2009 | HI | HB 952 | Amending Unionization Requirements | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 4) |
| April 13, 2009 | CO | SB 281 | Clarifying Pinnacol Assurance as a Subdivision of the State | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 15) |
| April 13, 2009 | CO | SB 273 | Appropriation of Pinnacol Assurance Funds | Bill Passed - Senate (19 - 14) |
| April 11, 2009 | WV | SB 246 | Temporary Unemployment Compensation Tax Increase for Employers | Bill Passed - House (71 - 29) |
| April 10, 2009 | MD | HB 310 | Extending Unemployment Benefits to Part-Time Employees | Bill Passed - Senate (38 - 9) |
| April 3, 2009 | ID | H 173 | Restricting Eligibility for State Retiree Health Benefits | Bill Passed - Senate (26 - 8) |
| March 31, 2009 | FL | HB 903 | Capping Attorney Fees in Workers' Compensation Lawsuits | Bill Passed - House (84 - 35) |
| March 26, 2009 | FL | Amdt 677495 | Amendments to Attorney Fee Cap in Workers Compensation Lawsuits | Amendment Rejected - House (45 - 69) |
| March 26, 2009 | MD | HB 310 | Extending Unemployment Benefits to Part-Time Employees | Bill Passed - House (94 - 43) |
| March 25, 2009 | KS | SB 160 | Increasing Minimum Wage | Bill Passed - House (104 - 21) |
| March 24, 2009 | IN | HB 1379 | Unemployment Benefit Amendments | Bill Passed - Senate (30 - 20) |
| March 16, 2009 | NJ | S 21 | Local Government PERS/PFRS Contribution Deferral | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 17) |
| March 16, 2009 | NJ | A 3569 | Stop-Work Orders and Workers' Compensation Requirements | Bill Passed - House (46 - 24) |
| March 16, 2009 | NJ | S 21 | Local Government PERS/PFRS Contribution Deferral | Bill Passed - House (42 - 36) |
| March 13, 2009 | WV | SB 238 | Ban on Sexual Orientation Discrimination | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 10) |
| March 12, 2009 | WA | SB 6035 | Retrospective Ratings Program Regulations | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 24) |
| March 12, 2009 | TN | SB 83 | "Living" Wage Requirements | Bill Passed - Senate (18 - 13) |
| March 10, 2009 | HI | HB 952 | Amending Unionization Requirements | Bill Passed - House (37 - 9) |
| March 6, 2009 | UT | HJR 8 | Mandating Secret Ballots | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 8) |