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 6, 2017 | CA | SB 1 | Increases Gas and Vehicle Taxes to Pay for Road and Bridge Repairs | Bill Passed - House (54 - 26) |
| April 6, 2017 | WI | AB 109 | Authorizes Towns to Withdraw from County Zoning | Bill Passed - House (60 - 37) |
| April 6, 2017 | IL | HB 109 | Establishes Stopgap Budget | Bill Passed - House (64 - 45) |
| April 6, 2017 | IL | HB 109 | Establishes Stopgap Budget | Bill Passed - House (64 - 45) |
| April 4, 2017 | AL | SB 16 | Prohibits Judicial Override of Sentencing Decisions | Bill Passed - House (78 - 19) |
| April 4, 2017 | PA | HB 218 | Establishes a Budget for the Fiscal Year 2017-2018 | Bill Passed - House (144 - 84) |
| March 31, 2017 | MT | HB 595 | Amends State Constitution to Define "Person" | Amendment Adopted - House (58 - 41) |
| March 31, 2017 | CO | HB 1242 | Increases State Sales Tax | Bill Passed - House (41 - 24) |
| March 30, 2017 | MO | HB 174 | Prohibits Local Governments from Enacting Ordinances that Oppose State Law | Bill Passed - House (118 - 36) |
| March 30, 2017 | ME | LD 156 | Authorizes National Popular Vote Interstate Compact | Bill Failed - House (66 - 73) |
| March 23, 2017 | FL | HB 7007 | Authorizes Health Insurance and Retirement Benefits | Bill Passed - House (77 - 37) |
| March 23, 2017 | NJ | A 4243 | Requires "Whistleblower" Settlements to be Public Record | Bill Passed - House (73 - 0) |
| March 20, 2017 | CA | AB 18 | Authorizes a Ballot Measure to Appropriate $3 Billion to State Parks | Bill Passed - House (59 - 19) |
| March 16, 2017 | NJ | S 3048 | Requires Presidential Candidates to Disclose Tax Returns | Bill Passed - House (49 - 25) |
| March 15, 2017 | VT | S 79 | Prohibits the Disclosure of Personally Identifying Information | Bill Passed - House (110 - 24) |
| March 15, 2017 | HI | HB 100 | Establishes the Budget for 2017-2018 | Bill Passed - House (50 - 0) |
| March 10, 2017 | SC | H 3643 | Requires Public Universities to Adopt Antisemitism Policy | Bill Passed - House (103 - 3) |
| March 9, 2017 | IA | HF 516 | Requires Identification to Vote | Bill Passed - House (59 - 40) |
| March 9, 2017 | IA | HF 295 | Prohibits Localities from Increasing Minimum Wage | Bill Passed - House (56 - 41) |
| March 8, 2017 | NC | H 100 | Restores Partisan Court Elections | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (74 - 43) |
| March 8, 2017 | NC | H 100 | Restores Partisan Court Elections | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (74 - 43) |
| March 7, 2017 | IA | HF 517 | Authorizes Use of Deadly Force when Deemed Necessary | Bill Passed - House (58 - 39) |
| March 1, 2017 | National | HR 998 | Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome Act | Bill Passed - House (240 - 185) |
| March 1, 2017 | National | HR 998 | Searching for and Cutting Regulations that are Unnecessarily Burdensome Act | Bill Passed - House (240 - 185) |
| Feb. 23, 2017 | VA | HB 2000 | Prohibits Establishment of Sanctuary Cities | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (65 - 34) |
| Feb. 22, 2017 | NV | IP 1 | Requires Automatic Voter Registration when Applying for Driver's License | Bill Passed - House (27 - 15) |
| Feb. 21, 2017 | UT | HB 11 | Removes Political Party Affiliation Requirements for Certain State Commissions | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (44 - 31) |
| Feb. 16, 2017 | OK | HB 1845 | Requires REAL ID Compliance | Bill Passed - House (78 - 18) |
| Feb. 7, 2017 | VA | HB 2000 | Prohibits Establishment of Sanctuary Cities | Bill Passed - House (63 - 33) |
| Feb. 2, 2017 | National | H J Res 40 | Providing for congressional disapproval of the rule submitted by the Social Security Administration relating to Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 | Joint Resolution Passed - House (235 - 180) |
| Feb. 1, 2017 | National | H J Res 38 | Disapproving the Rule Submitted by the Department of the Interior Known as the Stream Protection Rule | Joint Resolution Passed - House (228 - 194) |
| Feb. 1, 2017 | UT | HB 11 | Removes Political Party Affiliation Requirements for Certain State Commissions | Bill Passed - House (52 - 21) |
| Jan. 31, 2017 | AR | HB 1047 | Requires Voters to Provide Identification When Voting | Bill Passed - House (74 - 21) |
| Jan. 27, 2017 | VT | HB 125 | Establishes Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 | Bill Passed - House (141 - 0) |
| Jan. 5, 2017 | National | HR 26 | Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2017 | Bill Passed - House (237 - 187) |
| Jan. 5, 2017 | National | HR 26 | Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act of 2017 | Bill Passed - House (237 - 187) |
| Jan. 4, 2017 | National | HR 21 | Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2017 | Bill Passed - House (238 - 184) |
| Jan. 4, 2017 | National | HR 21 | Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2017 | Bill Passed - House (238 - 184) |