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Legislative research is time-consuming as well as difficult . There are no legislative histories already compiled here in the Commonwealth as is sometimes the case with federal legislative history.
Reference librarians are here to help you locate the materials you will need to compile a history. Sources are located in the reference area (room 341, State House), in the 4th floor periodicals area (room 442, State House), or in the library's Special Collections department (room 55, State House). Other sources such as original papers and legislative files are located at the Massachusetts Archives at Columbia Point.
The following information should provide you with valuable guidelines for conducting your legislative history. For more detailed descriptions on legislative history research, please check our Massachusetts Legislative History document. |
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| Massachusetts Legislative Research |
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You have the MGL or bill numbers in hand, what next?
(Includes how to find a number if you only have a topic.)
Your numbers/citations may represent a Massachusetts General Law (MGL) chapter and section (276 M.G.L. 26A), session law citation (Acts and Resolves numbers: 1994 Mass. Acts 60 §175 or 1995 Mass. Acts 3), or bill(s) you are interested in (Senate: S1780, House: H2400).
1. To investigate changes to M.G.L. chapter and section:
If you have the M.G.L. chapter and section number, and are interested in when or how this section changed, use the M.G.L.A. (Massachusetts General Laws Annotated) or the A.L.M. (Annotated Laws of Massachusetts) volumes. Look under the Historical Notes for the section you are investigating to locate the citations representing changes in the section (session law cites).
2. Session Law citations:
For example, under 276 M.G.L.A. 26A, in the M.G.L.A., the historical note states "Added by 1994, 60, §175...", citing a session law that tells you when section 26A was first introduced. This resource will also tell you of any changes since 1994, including 1995 Mass. Acts 3. Read the editorial notes of the M.G.L.A. or A.L.M. to see if it discusses the change(s) you are interested in, e.g. when specific language was introduced.
If the change you are researching is not covered in the editorial notes, write all the session law cites down and pull the relevant volumes of the Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts to see the text of legislation that was passed. Glancing through these Acts may help you locate a specific change in language.
You may also search for the most recent session laws on the General Court's web site. This is useful for searching by topic. Session laws are currently available for the years 1997 to 2002. But bill histories are only available for the current legislative session on their web site. For older items you will need to use the print resources available in the Library that are noted below.
An in-house database of Special Acts or Laws is available in the Library for the years 1900-current. Please check our Glossary for definitions of special acts versus general laws. This database will give you session law citations. You still need to find what bill number it was before the bill became legislation.
Also, you may look through the Guide to Massachusetts General and Special Acts, available for the years 1997 - current, to find a session law number (assigned to legislation that passed), and bill number for the relevant year.
3. Doing a Bill History to trace and investigate the changes to a bill:
You need to find all numbers assigned to the bill. If you have a session law citation representing the first time specific language appeared, e.g. Chapter 3 of the Acts of 1994 or 1994 c.3, you may proceed to the resources listed below to find out what bill numbers were assigned to it and what happened to it during the legislative session.
There are three print resources called Massachusetts Legislative Documents you may look in for your bill numbers: specifically the Massachusetts Legislative Documents Index, the Bulletin of Committee Work and the Legislative Record. Another option is to search the index found in the last volume of the House Journal or Senate Journal for the relevant year. Also, if you only know the topic and the year or decade, you may search for bills that never passed into law by searching Journal indices. For the current legislative session a printout is available showing the bill history, listed by bill number.
In our example, Chapter 3 of the Acts of 1995 (also written as 1995 Mass. Acts 3), the Legislative Record tells us the history of the bill - it was bill S1780 before it passed into law (S for Senate), and no other bill numbers are associated with it. Dates are provided and usually linked to House Journal and Senate Journal references. These are used to check what action was taken that was reported in the Journals on the days indicated, and the dates are used to access the unofficial State House News Service publications mentioned below.
Audio and Videotapes for sessions should also be searched for in case a tape is available. Search the Library Catalog for the audio and videotapes.
Once you've finished with the resources in the Library, you may continue your legislative history by accessing the Legislative Packages (see below) and, if relevant, the Governor's legislative files. The availability of these resources is discussed below.
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| Official Sources for Legislative Research |
| Title |
Frequency |
Access |
Notes |
| House Proceedings including selected Committee hearings (since 1992) |
Audio format - selective tapings, Nov. 1984 to Nov. 15, 1987; Video format- selective tapings, Nov. 16, 1987 to present |
Access by date - search State Library catalog, also videotapes located in Special Collections, Room 55, State House |
Selective coverage for certain proceedings |
| Senate Proceedings including selected Committee hearings (since 1992) |
Video format - January 1996 to present |
Access by date - search State Library catalog, also videotapes located in State Library Special Collections, Room 55, State House |
Selective coverage for certain proceedings |
| Legislative Packages |
For each bill introduced into the General Court since 1775 |
State Archives, before 1997 by bill number and year; current and previous year with House or Senate Clerk; 1998-2000 at State Publications and Regulations Division |
Original petition with names of all petitioners; written changes in bill; may include letters, with margin notes |
| Governor's Legislative Files |
For bills which have become law, available for most years since 1964. |
1964 -1990 State Archives; 1991 - present Governor's Legislative Office, Rm. 161 State House |
Copy of engrossed bills, position papers, sometimes miscellaneous subject files, veto messages (may help in determining intent) |
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| Unofficial Resources for Legislative Research |
| Title |
FREQUENCY |
ACCESS |
NOTES |
| SHNS * Electronic Database SHNS |
Daily |
Available on-site at State Library 1995-current |
"Debate" and feature stories |
SHNS *
House, Senate "debate coverage" |
Each day of session |
By date, 1972-present (No house coverage for 1978) |
Unofficial "debate", action on legislation |
| SHNS * Subject press-releases from SHNS Bureau and other state agencies, lobbyists, etc. |
Daily |
By subject |
Coverage of hearings, other newsworthy events |
| SHNS * Roundups, Advances |
Each Friday |
By date 1978-1979 some available; 1981-present |
Synopsis of past week and of next week's activity in state government |
| Governor's Press Releases |
Issued irregularly. 1958- on microfilm; current year in paper; the Governor's web site |
By date legislation signed; by name of person appointed |
Governor's sentiments on legislation, newsworthy events; also includes press releases on appointments made by Governor |
*Note:
The State House News Service (SHNS) is a private news-gathering organization covering state government in Massachusetts. It provides subscribers with daily accounts of House and Senate sessions, news stories of selected legislative hearings and other State House events, and feature stories about issues and news makers.
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| Contact Telephone Numbers |
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Massachusetts Regulations Division - Room 1613 McCormack Building, 1 Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108: 617-727-2831, regs@sec.state.ma.us
Massachusetts House Clerk - 24 Beacon Street, Room 145 State House, Boston, MA 02133: 617-722-2356
Massachusetts Senate Clerk - 24 Beacon Street, Room 335 State House, Boston, MA 02133: 617-722-1276
Governor's Legislative Office - 24 Beacon Street, Room 161 State House, Boston, MA 02133: 617-727-7208
Governor's Press Office - 24 Beacon Street, Room 265 State House, Boston, MA 02133: 617-727-2759
Massachusetts Archives - 218 Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA 02125: 617-727-2816
Massachusetts State Library - 24 Beacon Street, Room 341 State House, Boston, MA 02133: 617-727-2590 |
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| Revised August, 2002 |
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