Law Library: Legislative History Research: Home

"Legislative history compilation is a craft, not a science, but a craft that can be learned."*

A legislative history tells the story of how a bill became law, tracing its steps from introduction to passage, and to any amendments.

The actions necessary for a bill to become law are called the "legislative process." Some of the steps are legally mandated, others may be customary.

Three keys to compiling a legislative history are

understanding the legislative process,
understanding legislative terms and abbreviations, and
following customary formats for compiling the actions and references.

For popular acts, a legislative history may already be compiled. Check the resources for compiled legislative histories before starting anew.

Legislative Process

A bill is introduced by one or more Sponsors, who are legislators, in their respective legislative chambers. Bills are assigned to committees, usually one with expertise in the subject, and another that considers the bill's procedural and substantive legality. If the bill proceeds to law, there may be:

hearings,
debates,
reports,
analysis,
testimony,
motions, and
votes,

all of which make up the legislative process. At the state level, bills may also be proposed through ballot initiative.

Federal

The Legislative Process - U.S. House of Representatives
Government website describes the legislative process.
The Legislative Process on the Senate Floor: An Introduction
This Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report describes the process in the U.S. Senate legislative branch. CRS 96-548 (updated July 22, 2019).
The Legislative Process (video)
Series of nine short videos (< 5 minutes each) prepared by Congress. Side navigation Help Center includes links to more resources.
Understanding the Legislative Process
Prepared by the House Office of Legislative Counsel, these more advanced resources describe parliamentary procedure, companion bills, and features of bill drafting templates.
U.S. Senate: Rules & Procedures
More advanced resources for understanding Senate proceedings.

California

CA Assembly: Legislative Process
includes link to Glossary.
CA Senate: Legislative Process

Terms & Abbreviations

Glossary of Legislative Terms (Federal)
Essential terms to understanding legislation, as well as links to "action" codes.
Common Abbreviations and Legal Citation Examples for Selected Federal Government Documents (Legislative, Statutory, Regulatory)
Part of the Legislative Sourcebook prepared by the Law Librarians' Society for Washington, D.C., Inc. (last update 2017)
Glossary of California Legislative Terms
OLC Glossary
From the California Office of Legislative Council.

Formats

Reviewing a compiled legislative history on any topic, will help considerably in developing a template for your results. Compilations vary in their depth and comprehensiveness. The Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C. (LLSDC) says:

Legislative history compilation is a craft, not a science, but a craft that can be learned. However, a good deal of discretion may be left to the compiler as to the format of the history and what indeed are the “related documents” that go into it. The core material will generally be the same for different compilers, but many compilers, may [wish] to leave no stone unturned and no related document un-presented.

Federal Legislative History 101 at 6. LLSDC recognizes these formats:

Chronological (Truth in Lending Act example)
Reverse chronological (USA Patriot Act example)
By document type or size (Electronic Communications Privacy Act example)
Other arrangements or combinations (Dodd-Frank Act example)

Watch This Video

Bill on Capitol Hill Video

Watch this video for a clear, though over-simplified, summary of how the legislative branch makes laws.

It's silly, but it identifies many points when documents get created that can later be found when researching legislative history. It gives context beautifully, and it's only 3 minutes long.

Legislative History Research

Reference Desk

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