Law and Legal Studies
Legislative histories bring together the documents created as a bill moves through the lawmaking process (federal or state). Such materials help explain the bill’s purpose, the issues lawmakers focused on, and the reasoning behind their decisions, whether or not the bill was ultimately passed. These materials include:
- Bill texts and amendments
- Committee reports
- Hearing testimony
- Debates
- Votes
- Presidential or Governor messages
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Legislative histories
Some resources that can be used in locating or compiling federal legislative histories include:
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ProQuest Legislative and Executive Publications This link opens in a new windowHearings, bills, laws and legislative histories, committee prints, Congressional Research Service reports, Congressional Record and predecessors, Executive Branch docs to 1939, and the Serial Set.
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U.S. Federal Legislative History Library This link opens in a new window
In addition to the inclusion of comprehensive federal legislative histories published by the U.S. GPO and private publishers, this library also includes a unique finding aid based on Nancy Johnson's award-winning work, Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories. Researchers should begin their U.S. federal legislative history research with this finding aid, which often includes references to law review articles on-point to a particular legislative history.
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U.S. Congressional Documents This link opens in a new window
This collection features the complete Congressional Record Bound version, as well as the daily version back to 1980. It also includes the three predecessor titles: Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837) Congressional Globe (1833-1873), and Congressional Hearings (early 1900s-present), as well as other important congressional material such as hearings, CRS Reports, and much more.
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Legislative History Research GuideThis comprehensive guide from Georgetown University Law Library covers in detail the legislative process and the materials that are produced.
Resources that can be used in locating or compiling state legislative histories include:
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HeinOnline Core Collection This link opens in a new windowThe HeinOnline collection includes many resources on the history of state legislation, including Session Laws Library and Prestatehood Legal Materials.
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Guide to Compiling a Massachusetts Legislative HistoryA guide from the State Library of Massachusetts explaining how to trace the history of a Massachusetts law from statute citation to original bill, amendments, and legislative records. The guide also includes links to primary sources.
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MassTrac This link opens in a new windowInformation about the legislative process in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, including bill tracking and a legislative calendar, 2005-present.
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State Legislative HistoryThis guide from University of Pennsylvania includes information on where to find legislative information for each state.
