Legislative history encompasses the documents Congress generates as a bill is introduced, reviewed, and debated. Understanding a statute's legislative history can be valuable for clarifying the legislative intent behind ambiguous provisions or for determining whether certain issues were considered or rejected during the law’s passage.
This guide outlines the basics of federal legislative history, covering:
For a visual guide to the legislative process and an overview of documents generated along the way, refer to the “How Our Laws Are Made” infographic by Mike Wirth and Dr. Suzanne Cooper-Guasco, included below.
State statutes often follow similar procedures for passage and publication, but state legislative documents may be harder to access, as they are not always published or available online. Federal legislative history can provide a helpful model when researching state legislative history.
ProQuest Congressional, ProQuest Legislative Insight, Congress.gov, and Govinfo contain many of the resources you need to understand legislative intent when researching federal legislative history questions.
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