Key Votes

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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:

  1. The vote should be helpful in portraying how a member stands on a particular issue
  2. The vote should be clear for any person to understand
  3. The vote has received media attention
  4. The vote was passed or defeated by a very close margin
  5. Occasionally, if a specific bill is consistently inquired about on the Voter's Research Hotline, the vote will be added

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.


results per page:
Date State Bill No. Title Outcome
July 16, 2026 National S J Res 198 A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the Department of Health and Human Services relating to "Medicare Program; Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) Model" Motion Rejected - Senate (46 - 50)
May 13, 2026 National S J Res 141 A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to the withdrawal of the rule relating to "Debt Collection Practices (Regulation F); Deceptive and Unfair Collection of Medical Debt" Motion Rejected - Senate (50 - 50)
March 24, 2026 KS SB 20 Establishes Regulations on Pharmacy Benefit Managers Conference Report Adopted - Senate (32 - 8)
March 4, 2026 MS HB 565 Requires Insurance Plans to Cover Biomarker Testing for Cancer Bill Passed - Senate (51 - 0)
March 3, 2026 SD HB 1199 Expands Prior Authorization and Reporting Requirements for Health Carriers Bill Passed - Senate (34 - 0)
Jan. 13, 2026 National S J Res 84 A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services relating to "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Market Integrity and Affordability" Motion Rejected - Senate (47 - 52)

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