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Answered By: Mindy Kent
Last Updated: Jan 27, 2025     Views: 4260

Legislative history can be a complicated process.  If you'd like to sit down with a librarian to go over the process, please sign up for a research consult (http://www.law.harvard.edu/library/services/research-appointment.html)

The basic steps for tracing the legislative history of your law are:

Start with annotated statutes

  • Start by looking at the annotated statutes for Massachusetts.  In the credits for the law, you'll see a history section that will give citations to the session laws, also known as the Massachusetts Acts and Resolves.

    • The current and historical annotated statutes are available in print and microfiche

    • Current and recent historical annotated statutes are also in Westlaw and Lexis. 

Get the bill number from the session laws

  • Next, look up each session law that you want to trace and identify the bill number. The Acts and Resolves are available from the following sources:

  • Massachusetts website - 1692-present

  • Lexis: 1990-present (MA-Massachusetts Advanced Legislative Service)

  • Westlaw - 1987 - present (Massachusetts Proposed & Enacted Legislation>Massachusetts Enacted Legislation (Session Laws))for current legislative session, Massachusetts Historical Enacted Legislation (Session Laws) for 1987-)

  • HeinOnline Session Law Library 

Use the bill number to find the bill text and track the legislative process

  • To read the full-text of Massachusetts bills

    • Mass State Website - current session only

    •  Lexis:

      • 1991-present: MA-Full-Text Bills;

    • Westlaw:

      •  current session: Massachusetts Proposed & Enacted Legislation>Proposed Legislation (Bills); 

      • 2005-present: Massachusetts Historical Proposed Legislation (Bills)

    • Print versions of older bills were bound chronologically. Some are available from Widener - Search HOLLIS for the keywords: General Court Documents

    •  Earlier bills are available at the Massachusetts State Library

  • Once you have the bill number you'll need to look at the procedural history of the bill as it moved through the legislature.

     

    •  Recent bills can be tracked online:

      •  Lexis

        • 1989-present: MA Bill Tracking Reports;

      • Westlaw:

        •  current session: Massachusetts Bill Tracking

        • 2005-present: Massachusetts Bill Tracking: Historical

 

  • For bills after 1973 a bill history summary is included in the final volume of each year of the Journal of the House and Senate.

  •  

     For older bills, consult the Bulletin of Committee Work.

     

  • The bill history will give citations to the Journals of the House and Senate:

Locate material in the House and Senate Journals

Find the legislative packet and additional legislative history documents

  • The legislative packet includes the original petition and other documentation.

    • Legislative packets are held at the Massachusetts Archives in Boston.

    • For bills between 1964 and 2006 you may also want to look at the Governor's Legislative Files, also at the Massachusetts Archives.

  • Lexis

    • Massachusetts Legislative Bill History includes committee messages analyses and governor's messages from 2006-present

  •  Additional legislative history information may be found in newspapers, press releases and recordings of the proceedings of the legislature.

Additional Resources

These research guides will give you some more guidance:

Answered by Mindy Kent
Last Updated: Jan 27, 2025     Views: 4260

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