Moving Forward with Legislative History

As a reference librarian, I have come to expect certain things from patrons hoping to do legislative history. For those who have never had to complete the process before, there is often a look of panic that comes over them as you point to all the walls of books they will need to go through and describe the process of ‘reading between the lines’ to find intent. As someone who also had to learn how to backtrack a law using material like the General Laws, the Acts and Resolves and Senate and House Journals, I understand the dread a patron feels as they disappear behind a tower of oversized books. Legislative history in Massachusetts can be complicated and the library staff has put together a number of helpful resources to guide patrons through the process. Nevertheless, the older a law is the more difficult it can be to find the information you need.

The good news is that it is getting easier. For more recent bills, a number of online resources are gathering the information in one place so that legislative history can be done in less time and with less ambiguity. The legislature’s website is a great place to start. They have the General Laws available as well as Acts starting in 1997 and Resolves starting in 1998. If you have the act number, you will even be able to find the number of the bill that was passed. While perhaps to today’s standards this step may seem basic and obvious, finding this bill number for older laws can take time and some careful maneuvering through various sources. With the Legislature’s website it can be found in an instant.

With this bill number and the year, you have the tools to then use the resource Instatrac. Instatrac, or MassTrac, is a bill-tracking service the State Library subscribes to so it can only be used by patrons on location at the State House. Even without the bill number, you can search by keywords, categories and other citations to find the information you may need. The database contains legislative information including bill text, history, committee information, reports, news articles, votes, press releases and even floor debate for more recent bills. Since it is constantly being updated, it is also a wonderful way to track bills that are still being debated in the current session. For laws enacted after 1995, Instatrac allows a patron doing legislative history to follow a bill from its original text to the day it’s signed into law.

We at the library know how difficult the legislative history process can be, especially for those who are working on older laws or who cannot visit the library. We have already put all Acts and Resolves online and are working to put up all of Legislative Documents (bills). Nevertheless, sometimes the information desired will not be available. With online resources like the legislature’s website, Instatrac, and news services archiving their articles like the Boston Globe and the State House News Service, this process will continue to get easier and how and why a bill became law may get clearer.

Stephanie Turnbull
Reference Librarian

An Act By Any Other Name: General vs. Special Acts

Patrons often contact the State Library wanting to know the difference between an act that is general in nature, and what is commonly called a “special act” (or “special law”).  Massachusetts acts are made up of both types, and it’s easy to be confused by this concept since they are published together in no particular order other than that in which they were passed during a specific year; however, prior to 1920, you will find that they were published in separate volumes.  It’s important to be able to recognize the difference between the two, as research methods can vary depending on the type in question.  Also note that the Massachusetts Acts and Resolves are commonly known under the umbrella term “session laws”, and you may see this term used throughout your research.

An act that is general in nature will most often apply to all Massachusetts residents (for example, laws regarding divorce in the state), or it may involve the organization and administration of the state government (for example, the state budget).  Also keep in mind that general acts are passed with the intent of permanence.  This type of act makes up the majority of the acts passed, and together they form the body of the Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) and all of its additions, amendments, repeals, etc. that the MGL has undergone since its codification.  In other words, each general act is codified into the MGL.  The MGL, like most existing bodies of law, is mutable and subject to continual changes that are effected by these general acts.

“Special acts” are acts that are more specific in nature.  They apply to a limited number, such as one person, one event, a specific city or town, etc.  Like general acts, they are subject to amendments brought about by subsequent acts; however they are not codified into any body of law.

A good way to distinguish between the two types of acts is to take a look at the language used and the subject matter at hand.  Good questions to ask are: What is the scope of the subject matter?  Is it specific, or does it apply to the Massachusetts community as a whole?  Does it affect the organization or administration of the state government?  Is it meant to be temporary?  Key language usually appears in the first couple sentences of the act.  Does it specifically state that the act is an amendment or insertion being applied to the General Laws?  If so, then it is a general act.  If you’re still not sure, Shephard’s Citations, which is available in the library, is a good resource to look at because it distinguishes between acts codified and not codified.

To make matters more complicated, sometimes an act can have both.  A great example of this is 1993 Chap. 71, a huge act concerning educational reform.  Many of the sections are general acts with references to the MGL, but look at section 70; section 70 is not codified in the MGL and is considered a “special” part of this act.

Examples:
Special Act:  2009 Chap. 201. An Act Designating A Certain Traffic Circle In The City Of Lowell As The Micky Ward Rotary.

General Act:  1980 Chap. 63. An Act Establishing Town Meeting Day.

The State Library has digitized all of the acts from 1692 to 2009; later acts can be found on the legislature’s website.

Kaitlin Connolly
Reference Dept.

Item of the Month for February 2013

One of the main reasons people visit the State Library is their wish to conduct legislative history. Staff at the Reference Desk give them a written outline from our website and guide them through the process.

A reference source, Handbook of Legal Research in Massachusetts can serve as a valuable companion to the above, particularly if the researcher wishes to learn in-depth about the process. Chapter three, “Massachusetts Legislative Procedure and History,” written by the book’s editor Mary Ann Neary of the Boston College Law School, provides detailed information about how a bill does or does not become law.

Other Chapters, written by experts in their fields, include two by the Honorable Margot Botsford, Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.  These are entitled: “statutes and session laws,” and “the judicial system.” A third by Judge Botsford and Karen Dean-Smith, is “the Massachusetts constitution and structure of government.”

Brian Harkins of the Social Law Library has written “electronic legal research.” Other chapters include overviews of “municipal law” and “administrative law.”

The library owns the third edition of this source and it contains a 2012 supplement. The publisher is MCLE, Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc.

Visit us here in the State Library to use this source.

Pamela W. Schofield
Legislative Reference Librarian
State Library of Masaschusetts