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Researching Virginia Law: Legislative HistoryLEGISLATIVE HISTORY There are few resources for legislative history in Virginia, but there are some items that may help. Getting Started When searching for legislative history, remember that histories are not organized by code section, but by bill number or by chapter number and year. • To learn the chapter numbers for a code section you want to research, look at the end of the section. There will be a series of numbers in parentheses that look like this: (1994, c. 134) This is the year and chapter number. If you see a series of numbers, it means that more than one chapter law has been used to create that code section. • To learn the bill number of a chapter law, look at the beginning of the law. The bill number should begin with HB (for a House bill) or SB (for a Senate Bill). Once you have the chapter and bill numbers, you can start searching for a law's history. Bills Senate and House bills from the latest legislative session are located in binders in the Library's Virginia collection. Bills from previous sessions are located in the compact shelving area, shelf B-58 (please see a librarian for access). The Commonwealth's online Legislative Information System http://leg1.state.va.us/lis.htm contains the text of bills from the 1994 legislative session to the present. Floor Debates There are no printed transcripts of debates in the General Assembly. Debates are videotaped, and you can go to Richmond to view those tapes. House debates are available from the 1980's to the present, and Senate debates are available for the past six months, but call ahead to be sure they have what you are looking for. You will need to know the date of the debate you are researching. The Richmond Times-Dispatch covers the General Assembly well, and can be a good resource for background information on legislation. The current issue of the Times-Dispatch is available at the Law Library's newspaper area, and old copies are available at Swem Library (Call # AN47 .R52 R575). The Times-Dispatch's web site at http://www.timesdispatch.com also has a special section for articles covering the General Assembly (select Virginia/Metro from the site's home page, then General Assembly), but you will only be able to read articles from the past two or three weeks for free. Voting Records Located in the Law Library's Virginia Collection, the Senate Journal (Call # KFV2418B) and the House Journal (Call # KFV2418) contain the records of all votes made in the General Assembly. Sometimes, the Journals will include a brief statement made about a particular action, but no more. Special Studies The House or Senate will sometimes order committees to prepare studies of topics important to the Assembly. Reports from these studies are compiled in House & Senate Documents (Call # KFV2418C [Virginia Collection]). These Documents are not available online. A chronological list of House and Senate Documents is available online at http://leg2.state.va.us/dls/h&sdocs.nsf/?Open Searching for General Assembly Bills and Documents The Cumulative Index of Bills, Joint Resolutions, Resolutions, and Documents (Call # KFV2410. F56 [Virginia Collection]) is an annual combined topical index to bills, joint resolutions, resolutions, and documents. Indexes are not cumulative, so you will have to search year by year. This index is also available through the Commonwealth's Legislative Information System at http://leg1.state.va.us/lis.htm; select the "Comprehensive Index". » Legislative History » Cases » Administrative Law » References
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