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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Aug. 22, 2012 | CA | AB 1640 | Expands Cash Assistance Programs for Pregnant Teenagers | Bill Passed - Senate (25 - 12) |
Aug. 22, 2012 | CA | AB 2348 | Authorizes Registered Nurses to Dispense Contraceptives | Bill Passed - Senate (23 - 15) |
June 5, 2012 | National | S 3220 | Paycheck Fairness Act | Cloture Not Invoked - Senate (52 - 47) |
May 31, 2012 | NJ | S 1599 | Amends Surrogacy Laws | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 11) |
April 27, 2012 | CO | SM 3 | Urges Congress to Authorize Religious Exemptions to Providing Birth Control | Bill Failed - Senate (15 - 20) |
April 26, 2012 | National | S 1925 | Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act | Bill Passed - Senate (68 - 31) |
April 25, 2012 | AZ | HB 2625 | Authorizes Employers to Refuse to Provide Coverage for Contraception | Conference Report Adopted - Senate (19 - 9) |
April 12, 2012 | AZ | HB 2625 | Authorizes Employers to Refuse to Provide Coverage for Contraception | Bill Passed - Senate (17 - 13) |
April 11, 2012 | NE | LB 599 | Prenatal Care for Children of Undocumented Immigrants | Bill Passed - Senate (31 - 15) |
March 29, 2012 | MO | SB 749 | Authorizes Employers to Exempt Contraception from Healthcare Coverage | (26 - 5) |
March 28, 2012 | AZ | HB 2625 | Authorizes Employers to Refuse to Provide Coverage for Contraception | Bill Failed - Senate (13 - 17) |
March 7, 2012 | GA | SB 460 | Exempts Religious Employers from Insurance Requirements for Coverage of Contraception | Bill Passed - Senate (38 - 15) |
March 6, 2012 | UT | HB 363 | Requires Abstinence-Only Sexual Education in Public Schools | Bill Passed - Senate (19 - 10) |
March 6, 2012 | AZ | SB 1359 | Prohibits Wrongful Birth Lawsuits | Bill Passed - Senate (20 - 9) |
Feb. 15, 2012 | OK | SB 1433 | Defines life as beginning at conception | Bill Passed - Senate (34 - 8) |
Feb. 14, 2012 | KY | SB 103 | Requires an Ultrasound Prior to an Abortion | Bill Passed - Senate (32 - 4) |
Feb. 8, 2012 | KY | SB 102 | Specifies Conditions for Informed Consent | Bill Passed - Senate (32 - 5) |
Feb. 1, 2012 | VA | SB 484 | Requires an Ultrasound Prior to an Abortion | Bill Passed - Senate (21 - 18) |
Jan. 31, 2012 | UT | SB 32 | Breast Cancer Screening | Bill Passed - Senate (22 - 5) |