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
June 23, 2026 PA SB 469 Authorizes $1 Hunting and Fishing Licenses for Law Enforcement Bill Passed - Senate (49 - 0)
June 3, 2026 PA SB 1281 Requires Rules for Expedited Approval of Residential Developments Bill Passed - Senate (50 - 0)
May 6, 2026 PA SB 1294 Establishes a Civil Penalty for Unlicensed Commercial Driving Schools Bill Passed - Senate (48 - 2)
May 4, 2026 PA SB 250 Requires the Preamble of the Pennsylvania Constitution to be Displayed in Schools Bill Passed - Senate (36 - 13)
April 22, 2026 PA SB 1293 Requires Institutions of Higher Education to Designate Sports as Male or Female Bill Passed - Senate (30 - 17)
April 21, 2026 PA SR 211 Requires the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to Study the Municipalities Planning Code's Performance Bill Passed - Senate (46 - 2)
Feb. 3, 2026 PA HB 17 Requires Instruction of Cursive Handwriting in Elementary Schools Bill Passed - Senate (42 - 5)

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