Legislative History – California Globe

Frequently Asked Questions about Legislative History and Intent

April 21, 2024 2:30 amApril 21, 2024 2:31 am

What is legislative history? Legislative history relates to how a bill becomes law, and includes the documents and steps involved in passage of the successful legislation. What is statutory history? Statutory history is usually defined as changes to the language...

Legislative History and Intent – What Is the Difference?

October 20, 2022 4:26 pmOctober 20, 2022 3:29 pm

Many Capitol observers use the terms “legislative history,” “statutory history,” and “legislative intent” interchangeably. However, these terms generally mean two different things. What are those distinctions among these terms? Legislative history relates to how a bill becomes law, and includes...

Should There Be a Distinction Among the Types of Legislative History?

October 17, 2022 6:02 amOctober 16, 2022 9:30 pm

At the federal level, according to Harvard Law School Professors John Manning and Matthew Stephenson, “there has traditionally been a rough hierarchy of legislative history sources, with committee reports at the top, sponsor statements somewhere in the middle, and other...

The Connection Between Judges and Bill Drafters

November 10, 2020 6:29 amNovember 11, 2020 6:13 am

What is the connection between how judges interpret statutes and how statutes are drafted by legislative counsel? In broad terms, it is “literalism” versus “purposive” approaches to interpreting statutes. Literalism is generally defined as the interpretation of words in their...

Researching the Legislative History of an Enacted California Statute

July 8, 2020 12:37 amJuly 8, 2020 12:45 am

For those who need to research the legislative history of a bill that was enacted into law in the State of California, there are a number of options to use. This article briefly describes some of those avenues for the...