Methodology

In consultation with approximately 20 national anti-poverty experts on a wide range of topics, we selected the most significant votes on poverty issues in the U.S. Senate and House in calendar year 2010. The votes we selected cover a wide range of subject areas, including health care reform, unemployment insurance, jobs, housing, consumer protection, child nutrition, rural poverty and immigrants.

Each member of the House is scored based on 16 selected votes and each member of the Senate is scored based on 14 selected votes. If a member did not cast a “yes” or “no” vote on a particular measure (for example, if the member was absent), that vote was not considered in determining the member’s score. Each vote is given equal weight. We did not score members who did not vote enough times for the score to be a fair assessment of their performance.

We ranked 429 of 435 members of the House of Representatives, each of whom voted on at least 10 of the 16 votes we selected. We ranked 99 of 100 senators, each of whom voted on at least 11 of the 14 votes we selected.

Unless otherwise indicated, we used the vote on final passage. Where multiple votes were cast on a bill, we selected the vote that was the most significant in fighting poverty, either the clean vote, meaning the vote before extraneous provisions were added or after they were stripped away; the decisive vote, meaning the vote that decided whether the bill or amendment would move forward in 2010; or the compromise vote, meaning the vote on the version that had the best chance of becoming law.

While we were deciding which votes to use, we did not review the roll call on any vote, nor did we review any other material that would have indicated how a particular member voted.