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. 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. 14, 2025 | VA | HJR 1 | Establishes a Constitutional Amendment Enshrining Rights to Abortion | Joint Resolution Passed - House (51 - 48) |
| Jan. 14, 2025 | VA | HJR 9 | Establishes a Constitutional Amendment Protecting Marriage Equality | Joint Resolution Passed - House (58 - 35) |
| 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 | National | HR 28 | Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act | Bill Passed - House (218 - 206) |
| Jan. 14, 2025 | VA | HJR 2 | Establishes a Constitutional Amendment that Restores Felon Voting Rights | Joint Resolution Passed - House (55 - 44) |
| Jan. 14, 2025 | NY | A 693 | Requires District Attorneys Give Crime Victims Information about the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision's Victim Assistance Office | Bill Passed - House (148 - 1) |
| Jan. 13, 2025 | National | S 5 | Laken Riley Act | Motion Agreed - Senate (82 - 10) |
| 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. 8, 2025 | National | S 5 | Laken Riley Act | Cloture Invoked - Senate (84 - 9) |
| Jan. 7, 2025 | IL | HB 4144 | Requires Police to Take Guns After Orders of Protection | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (80 - 33) |
| Jan. 7, 2025 | IL | HB 4144 | Requires Police to Take Guns After Orders of Protection | Concurrence Vote Passed - House (80 - 33) |
| Jan. 7, 2025 | National | HR 29 | Laken Riley Act | Bill Passed - House (264 - 159) |
| Jan. 7, 2025 | National | HR 29 | Laken Riley Act | Bill Passed - House (264 - 159) |
| Jan. 6, 2025 | IL | HB 4144 | Requires Police to Take Guns After Orders of Protection | Bill Passed - Senate (43 - 10) |
| Jan. 6, 2025 | IL | HB 4144 | Requires Police to Take Guns After Orders of Protection | Bill Passed - Senate (43 - 10) |