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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 20, 2010 | National | HR 4213 | Unemployment Benefits Extension | Cloture Invoked - Senate (60 - 40) |
| June 9, 2010 | National | S Amdt 4326 | Requiring Reports on Foreign Holdings of U.S. Debt | Amendment Adopted - Senate (58 - 41) |
| June 9, 2010 | National | S Amdt 4302 | Requiring Reports on Foreign Holdings of U.S. Debt | Amendment Not Tabled - Senate (38 - 61) |
| May 27, 2010 | National | HR 4899 | Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Supplemental Appropriations | Bill Passed - Senate (67 - 28) |
| May 18, 2010 | National | S Amdt 4051 | Prohibiting Funding of State and Local Governments to Prevent Defaulting on Debt | Amendment Rejected - Senate (47 - 50) |
| May 11, 2010 | National | S Amdt 3839 | Termination of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Conservatorships | Amendment Rejected - Senate (43 - 56) |
| April 15, 2010 | National | HR 4851 | Unemployment Benefits Extension | Bill Passed - Senate (59 - 38) |
| April 1, 2010 | AZ | SCR 1060 | State Debt Limit Amendments | Joint Resolution Passed - Senate (18 - 8) |
| March 10, 2010 | National | HR 4213 | Extending Unemployment Benefits and Certain Tax Credits | Bill Passed - Senate (62 - 36) |
| March 3, 2010 | National | S Amdt 3353 | Payment to Social Security Recipients | Motion Rejected - Senate (47 - 50) |
| Feb. 2, 2010 | AZ | SB 1003 | Lottery Revenue Bond Authorization and State Building Lease-Purchase Agreements | Bill Passed - Senate (19 - 9) |
| Jan. 28, 2010 | National | H J Res 45 | Increasing the Public Debt Limit and Reinstating PAYGO | Bill Passed - Senate (60 - 39) |
| Jan. 26, 2010 | National | S Amdt 3302 | Establishing a Federal Budget Deficit Commission | Amendment Rejected - Senate (53 - 46) |
| Jan. 21, 2010 | National | S Amdt 3301 | Ending the Troubled Asset Relief Program | Amendment Rejected - Senate (53 - 45) |
| Dec. 24, 2009 | National | HR 4314 | Increasing the National Public Debt Limit | Bill Passed - Senate (60 - 39) |
| Dec. 13, 2009 | National | HR 3288 | 2009-2010 Omnibus Appropriations | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (57 - 35) |
| Oct. 29, 2009 | National | HR 2996 | Continuing Appropriations Extension and 2009-2010 Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and Related Appropriations | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (72 - 28) |
| Oct. 27, 2009 | National | HR 3548 | Extending Federal Emergency Unemployment Benefits | Cloture Invoked - Senate (87 - 13) |
| Oct. 8, 2009 | National | HR 2997 | Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agency Appropriations Fiscal Year 2009-2010 | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (76 - 22) |
| Sept. 30, 2009 | National | HR 2918 | Continuing Appropriations Resolution and 2009-2010 Legislative Appropriations | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (62 - 38) |
| Aug. 6, 2009 | National | HR 3435 | Supplemental Appropriations for the "Cash for Clunkers" Program | Bill Passed - Senate (60 - 37) |
| April 29, 2009 | National | S Con Res 13 | 2010 Concurrent Budget Resolution | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (53 - 43) |
| March 31, 2009 | National | S Amdt 739 | Public Debt Amendment | Amendment Rejected - Senate (43 - 54) |
| Feb. 13, 2009 | National | HR 1 | Appropriations, Tax Law Amendments, and Unemployment Benefit Amendments ("Stimulus Bill") | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (60 - 38) |
| Feb. 10, 2009 | National | HR 1 | Appropriations, Tax Law Amendments, and Unemployment Benefit Amendments ("Stimulus Bill") | Bill Passed - Senate (61 - 37) |