Mike Sweeney
Michelle Buhalo
Compiling a Pennsylvania legislative history is something many attorneys practicing in Pennsylvania may have to do at some point in their legal career. For the most part, preparing a legislative history is a very straight-forward procedure. Knowing some basic facts, along with easy-to-follow instructions, should help attorneys in their pursuit of legislative materials.
This guide should be used as a basic instruction on how to compile a Pennsylvania legislative history. If you have any questions, please contact Research Services at 215.574.1505 or research@jenkinslaw.org.
Legislative history - "the proceedings leading to the enactment of a statute, including hearings, committee reports, and floor debates." Black's Law Dictionary 1039 (10th ed. 2014). Such history is important to courts when they are required to determine the legislative intent of a particular statute.
Bill - "a legislative proposal offered for debate before its enactment." Black's Law Dictionary 196 (10th ed. 2014).
Act - "the formal product of a legislature or other deliberative body exercising its powers." Black's Law Dictionary 30 (10th ed. 2014). An act is the appropriate term for the bill after it has been enacted by legislature into law.
When compiling a Pennsylvania Legislative History, Jenkins includes only the debates and remarks on a particular bill, which are published in the Legislative Journals for the House and the Senate. Comments may also be found in the Appendix volumes (not published for every Assembly).
Committee Reports:
Jenkins does not receive the Committee Reports for the Pennsylvania House or Senate Bills. If you are looking for Committee Reports, you may have to consult the following sources:
These reports may be accessed by date reported, sponsor, committee, and/or subject.
Please note that committees do not always submit reports. Submitted committee reports may not be very substantive and are often limited in scope.
Committee Hearings:
Jenkins does not receive the Committee Hearings for the Pennsylvania House or Senate Bills. If you are looking for Committee Hearings, you may have to consult the following sources:
These hearings may be accessed by date, sponsor, committee, and/or subject. Committee hearings are usually held on legislation that is controversial or significant.
Please note, many proposals for legislation do not involve any hearings.
In Pennsylvania, hearings are open to the public, and newspapers often publish accounts of these hearings. It may benefit you to do a newspaper search for additional information. For newspaper searching, Jenkins' members have access to NewsBank with their Jenkins' member ID number.
Joint State Government Commission Reports:
Jenkins does not receive the reports produced by the Joint State Government Commission (JSGC). The JSGC is a non-partisan research organization that serves the Pennsylvania legislature. Select reports related to legislation may be available on their website (http://jsg.legis.state.pa.us/publications.cfm). For additional reports contact the JSGC at 717.787.4397.
Last Updated: 09/21/2015
Last Link Check: 09/02/2015
