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What Is a Legislative History?A legislative history is the chronology of legislative action. To trace this legislative action, the researcher must first look at the sources of legislative information.
BillsBills are proposed legislation. Bills give the text of legislation and name the sponsors of the legislation. Both the sponsors' names and the text are useful in helping to determine legislative intent.
Pennsylvania has two legislative bodies which produce bills: the
House of Representatives (House) and the
Senate.
House and Senate Bills can have three different sets of numbers assigned to them: Bill Number, Printer's Number and, if an act becomes law, an Act Number. Bills are numbered in the order in which they are introduced into the respective legislative bodies. Printer's numbers are assigned in accordance with the committee referral dates listed in the
History of House Bills and Resolutions and/or the
History of Senate Bills and Resolutions and change whenever the bill is amended. If a bill becomes law, it is listed by the act number. Acts are numbered chronologically in the order in which they were passed.
Committee HearingsCommittee Hearings are sources of information concerning public sentiment expressed about proposed legislation. Many legislative proposals do not involve hearings.
While transcripts of these public hearings are not readily available, the Pennsylvania Senate Library, located in Room 157 in the Main Capitol Building, does maintain current files of legislative committee hearings.
The Pennsylvania Archives, located in Harrisburg, contain newspaper accounts of public sentiment expressed about proposed legislation.
Committee ReportsBills are sent to various committees to be studied and to be reported on to the whole legislative body. While these committee reports would be a chief source of legislative intent, the unavailability of these reports greatly lessens their importance. Some limited committee reports are available at the Pennsylvania Archives and the Senate Library.
HistoriesThe
History of House Bills and Resolutions (House History) and the
History of Senate Bills and Resolutions (Senate History) give the chronological history of House and Senate Bills for each legislative session and act as a finding aid to debates in the Pennsylvania legislative journals. Bills can also be accessed by the House and/or Senate History's subject index, as well as by bill number.
JournalsThe
Pennsylvania Legislative Journal of the House of Representatives (House Journal) and the
Pennsylvania Legislative Journal of the Senate (Senate Journal) record debates entered into on the floor of the House and Senate pursuant to a bill and also record the vote for the bill. This "floor action" is useful in establishing the purpose and possible impact of a bill.
LawsThe
Laws of Pennsylvania is a chronological arrangement of the laws, arranged in bound volumes by year, dating back to 1700.
Purdon'sPurdon's Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Annotated and
Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated (Purdon's) is a subject arrangement of the laws, arranged by title and annotated with cases. Each section includes Historical and Statutory Notes.
Purdon's is updated by annual pocket parts as well as
Purdon's Pennsylvania Legislative Services.
Finding Legislative IntentA researcher tracks the legislative history of a particular piece of legislation to determine legislative intent, i.e., why was this legislation proposed and passed.
The Pennsylvania Statutory Construction Act (1 Pa. C.S. § 1501 et seq.) at § 1921(a) provides: "The object of all interpretation and construction of statutes is to ascertain and effectuate the intention of the General Assembly . . ."
Section 1921(c) states, in part, that "[W]hen the words of the statute are not explicit, the intention of the General Assembly may be ascertained by considering, among other matters: (1) The occasion and necessity for the statute; (2) The circumstances under which it was enacted; (3) The mischief to be remedied (4) the object to be attained;. . . (7) The contemporaneous legislative history (8) Legislative and administrative interpretations of such statute."
Determining Legislative IntentA researcher should perform the following steps to determine a legislative history:
- Identify the Act Number of the legislation.
If using Purdon's, the Act Number is listed at the end of the statute citation. For example: 23 Pa. C.S.A. § 2725: 1980, Oct. 15 P.L. 934, No. 163 § 1, effective Jan. 1, 1981.
1980 is the year the bill became law.
Oct. 15 is the date the bill became law.
P.L. 934 is the Pamphlet Law Number which equals the page number in the 1980 volume of Laws of Pennsylvania.
No. 163 is the act number.
- Locate the Bill Number.
Since 1965, the bill number has been printed on the first page of each Act (in the upper-left hand corner) in the Laws of Pennsylvania.
Before 1965, or if you do not have access to the Laws, consult the subject index in the Senate History and/or House History.
- Using the bill number, consult the appropriate History.
Under the bill number, the researcher will find an overview of all legislative action. Look for notations in parentheses to "Remarks" (either to House or Senate Journals). All other references simply list procedural actions; there is no discussion.
- Look for Remarks in the respective House or Senate Journal.
Consult the remarks page numbers in the respective House or Senate Journals. A researcher should be aware that oftentimes the remarks in the Journals are general and not helpful in determining legislative intent.
Sources Avaliable at WidenerThe Legal Information Center maintains Senate and House Bills,
House and
Senate Journals,
House History,
Senate History,
Laws of Pennsylvania, and
Purdon's.
On the Harrisburg campus, the current House and Senate Bills are arranged by year and then by printer's number.
Consult the
Library Catalog for library holdings, call number and location.
Computer-Assisted ResourcesThe Legal Information Center maintains some older Senate and House Bills,
House and
Senate Journals,
House History,
Senate History,
Laws of Pennsylvania, and
Purdon's.
Consult the
Library Catalog for library holdings, call number and location.
What Computer-Assisted Resources Are Available? The major legal commercial databases,
WESTLAW® and
LEXIS/NEXIS® , contain Purdon's statutes, the full text of House and Senate bills and bill tracking for the current legislative session.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania maintains a web site at
http://www.state.pa.us which contains information about the legislative branch. This site has: