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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb. 3, 2009 | National | S Amdt 109 | Hollywood Productions Tax Credit | Amendment Adopted - Senate (52 - 45) |
| Jan. 29, 2009 | National | HR 2 | Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion | Bill Passed - Senate (66 - 32) |
| Jan. 28, 2009 | National | HR 1 | Appropriations, Tax Law Amendments, and Unemployment Benefit Amendments ("Stimulus Bill") | Bill Passed - House (244 - 188) |
| Jan. 27, 2009 | National | S 181 | Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 | Bill Passed - House (250 - 177) |
| Jan. 26, 2009 | National | PN 64-6 | Timothy Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury | Nomination Confirmed - Senate (60 - 34) |
| Jan. 22, 2009 | National | S 181 | Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 | Bill Passed - Senate (61 - 36) |
| Jan. 22, 2009 | National | H J Res 3 | Releasing Funds for Economic Stabilization Act | Joint Resolution Passed - House (270 - 155) |
| Jan. 21, 2009 | National | HR 384 | Oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program | Bill Passed - House (260 - 166) |
| Jan. 15, 2009 | National | S J Res 5 | Releasing Funds for Economic Stabilization Act | Joint Resolution Failed - Senate (42 - 52) |
| Jan. 15, 2009 | National | S 22 | Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 | Bill Passed - Senate (73 - 21) |
| Jan. 14, 2009 | National | HR 2 | Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization and Expansion | Bill Passed - House (289 - 139) |
| Jan. 9, 2009 | National | HR 11 | Employment Discrimination Law Amendments | Bill Passed - House (247 - 171) |
| Jan. 9, 2009 | National | HR 12 | Employment Discrimination Law Amendments | Bill Passed - House (256 - 163) |