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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 22, 2025 | NY | A 414 | Amends and Updates the State's Nourish New York Program to Include Milk and Dairy Products | Bill Passed - Senate (58 - 1) |
| Jan. 21, 2025 | National | PN 11-7 | Nomination of Peter Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense | Motion Agreed - Senate (53 - 47) |
| Jan. 21, 2025 | National | PN 11-19 | Nomination of John Ratcliffe to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency | Motion Agreed - Senate (54 - 46) |
| Jan. 21, 2025 | VA | SJR 249 | Establishes a Constitutional Amendment Protecting Marriage Equality | Joint Resolution Passed - Senate (24 - 15) |
| Jan. 21, 2025 | DE | SB 42 | Amends Previous Changes Made to the State Judicial Pension Plan | Bill Passed - Senate (19 - 0) |
| Jan. 20, 2025 | National | S 5 | Laken Riley Act | Bill Passed - Senate (64 - 35) |
| Jan. 20, 2025 | National | PN 11-13 | Nomination of Marco Rubio to be Secretary of State | Nomination Confirmed - Senate (99 - 0) |
| Jan. 17, 2025 | National | S 5 | Laken Riley Act | Cloture Invoked - Senate (61 - 35) |
| Jan. 14, 2025 | ME | SP 97 | Limits the Use of Vague Placeholder Bills | Joint Resolution Passed - Senate (22 - 12) |
| Jan. 14, 2025 | NY | S 757 | Authorizes Local Social Services Districts to Use Child Care Block Grant Funds for the Presumptive Eligibility Period | Bill Passed - Senate (60 - 0) |
| Jan. 14, 2025 | NY | S 784 | Repeals Subsidies for Adoptive Parents of Disabled or Hard-to-Place Children if They No Longer Support Them | Bill Passed - Senate (57 - 3) |
| Jan. 13, 2025 | National | S 5 | Laken Riley Act | Motion Agreed - Senate (82 - 10) |
| Jan. 8, 2025 | National | S 5 | Laken Riley Act | Cloture Invoked - Senate (84 - 9) |
| Jan. 5, 2025 | IL | HB 5164 | Amends the Clerks of the Court Act to Reduce State Requirements for Name Changes | Bill Passed - Senate (33 - 16) |