Last week Congress had close votes on a couple of notable pieces of legislation that we selected for the Key Votes Program. Here is a recap:

On April 23, the Senate had a cloture vote on HR 2831. This bill makes changes to discrimination laws. It adds unequal pay to the list of acts that violate the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act. It also amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to read that each time an unequal payment is made, it is a new violation. This bill passed the House last year 225-199, and the cloture vote in the Senate failed 56-42 (60 votes are needed to invoke cloture.).

Also on April 23, the U.S. House passed HR 5613. This bill postpones for one year the Medicaid changes that are scheduled to take place this year. It passed the House 349-62 and has been received in the Senate.