Compiling a Legislative History: M.G.L. ch.6 §39B (Part 1)

A common research request we get asked as librarians at the State Library involves tracking down legislative histories of specific laws. If you have ever asked one of us for the legislative history of a particular law, then you definitely have been directed to our Guide to Compiling a Massachusetts Legislative History. Understandably, you, the researcher, might find this a little frustrating – and we totally get it: you asked for a chair and instead have been handed an instruction manual for how to find the materials necessary for building a chair. The hard truth is that legislative histories aren’t pre-existing resources we have on hand; they must be made (ideally by the person researching the piece of legislation in question). Compiling a legislative history is no mean feat and, depending on the piece of legislation you’re researching, the paper trail can take you back several centuries (e.g., Acts and Resolves contain acts that date back to 1692). The onus falls on the researcher to track down every bill, act, and amendment related to the law in question.

Since I’m the type of learner who needs to be shown how something is done before I attempt it on my own, I thought it would be useful to demonstrate how to use the guide. Using M.G.L. ch.6 §39B as an example, I am going to guide you through compiling a legislative history, following the steps and advice as described in our guide and, when necessary, some of the Library’s past blog posts.[1] I have several reasons for doing this: (1) I want this law to be known more widely; (2) I want to show you what the librarians at the State Library do on a daily basis; (3) I want to demystify the MA legislative research process; and (4) I scheduled myself to write back-to-back blog posts and this seemed like a good two-parter.

Obligatory disclaimer: I am not a lawyer; I cannot interpret the law or provide legal advice for others.

Reasons for why I’m choosing M.G.L. ch.6 §39B

If you read our January 2024 newsletter, chances are you noticed that 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of M.G.L. ch.6 §39B. M.G.L. ch.6 §39B, was and still is a significant piece of legislation for the State Library as it mandates all state agencies to submit copies of their published materials to the library.

The State Library serves two crucial roles in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It not only preserves the historic record of our government for future generations, but it also facilitates access to these documents for anyone to see – not just the legislature. Many of these materials are shelved in the stacks (for more information, see my last blog post), but many have been digitized and are accessible through the Library’s digital repository.

Researching M.G.L. ch.6 §39B Legislative History: The Beginning

To get us started, I’m going to need to fabricate a scenario. I’m also going to take the liberty of assuming that your first encounter with the General Laws will be via a computer and that you don’t have a physical copy of the text handy.

In this scenario, you were just merrily scrolling through the online General Laws and you came across a particular law, the text of which reads:

 

Obviously, you would do your due diligence and check it against the official version because technically, the online General Laws is not the official M.G.L. Those are printed every other year, the next being in 2024.

Just to drive home the point, the online M.G.L. puts this disclaimer on its website:

The topic of the digital version vs. the print version of the M.G.L. is the subject of another blog post which you can read about here.

With that step out of the way, the next one is to consult an annotated version of the General Laws. Again, the only official M.G.L. is the print version which I mentioned earlier; however, the official version doesn’t provide the contextual information that an annotated version does. You need both. The two popular annotated texts are published by Lexis and Thomson Reuters and are available on Lexis and Westlaw databases respectively. Thankfully, the Library subscribes to both Westlaw and Lexis (as well as many other databases) which are available on our public access computers (side note: the Trial Court Law Libraries also subscribe and provide access on their computers).

In the credit section of Westlaw’s M.G.L.A. it says: “Added by St.1984, c. 412, § 3” and in the history section of Lexis’s A.L.M. it says: “1984, 412, § 3.” What does that mean? Less work (hopefully) but more importantly, this is the citation to the Act that was codified as M.G.L. ch.6 §39B. The citation refers to chapter 412, section 3 of the 1984 Acts.

This is the point in a reference request where the librarian supplies the patron with a PDF from the relevant section of an annotated M.G.L. from Westlaw or Lexis and a link to the guide, and maybe some words of encouragement (e.g., “Good luck with your research!”). Therefore, it seems like a good stopping point for Part 1 of our adventure -- but worry not! Next week I’ll take you through some of the other resources listed in the guide that will lead us to the bill history behind St.1984, c. 412, § 3.


Maryellen Larkin

Government Documents & Reference Librarian


[1] Tips When Researching Legislation: Context through Visualizations (note: this article was written in 2020 when the State Library was closed to visitors – thankfully, we are open to the public again!) & Tips When Researching Legislation: Rejected Bills.