Did Someone Say “Report”?

The word “report” shows up everywhere in state government, but it might not always mean what you think it means.  In fact, the word has many different meanings, which can be really confusing to researchers.  Here’s a helpful guide we hope will provide some clarification for this multi-faceted word.

Report (published):  Reports that are published (or commissioned) by state and federal agencies, by governor’s commissions, legislative committees, etc.  Examples include annual reports, progress reports, research reports on specific topics of interest, investigative reports, and studies.

Report (special legislative):  These are reports authored by special legislative committees and commissions that are established for the purpose of investigating and studying a particular issue, and then filing a report by a set deadline.  A large portion of these reports are filed with the bills as part of the legislative documents series.  For more information, see also: Special Reports Authorized by the General Court

Report (media):  Journalistic pieces based on the author’s own investigations or research are also often referred to as “reports” (examples: “investigative report”, “special report”).  These types of reports serve as secondary resources, and sometimes are themselves about the state government or legislature (so don’t get them confused!)

Report (committee):  All bills have to be reported out of the legislative committees to which they were assigned.  A committee report is simply the committee’s recommendation that a particular bill “ought to pass” (favorable report), “ought not to pass” (adverse report), or be given a study order (which is never a good sign).  Committees can also file a “discharge report” if it believes that a certain bill subject is out of its jurisdiction.

Report (conference committee):  When a bill is particularly contentious and neither the House nor the Senate can agree on the language of the bill, it will then go to Conference Committee where three members of each branch meet to some to a resolution.  The report issued by the Committee is their agreed upon version of the bill, which must be voted on and may not be amended.

Are you looking for a particular report?  Search the library’s online catalog or browse our online DSpace digital repository.  You can also email or call the library for further assistance.

Kaitlin Connolly
Reference Department

Special Reports Authorized by the General Court

Part of the process of conducting a full legislative history is to see if there are any special reports that relate to the legislation being researched.  Special reports are reports that result from requests or study directives authorized by the Massachusetts General Court.  They can provide detailed research and background information on topics that were, or are, of particular interest to the legislature; they may (but not always) also help a researcher identify the intent behind a bill or statute.

Special reports can be found in two formats: (1) Many are filed with bills and bound in volumes called “legislative documents”.  These reports, like bills, have document numbers assigned by the House or Senate Clerk, and can be easily confused for bills because of this.  Reports, however, tend to be much longer in length than the average bill text.  (2) Other special reports were/are published as their own documents and are not part of the legislative documents series.

A note on the authors of special reports:  Up until the 1950s, the authors of such reports included standing committees, special commissions, and executive agencies.  In 1954, authorship narrowed with the establishment of the Legislative Research Council, whose purpose was to respond to the constant flow of research requests.  In 1994, the Council was defunct but many of their reports (1964 through 1994) can be accessed on the New England School of Law’s website. Since their disbandment, the responsibility of authoring special reports has once again been placed on legislative committees, special commissions, executive agencies, etc.

How do I find a special report relevant to my research?  The following are indexes that have been compiled by various authors, and organized by subject area.  Please make note of any important citation information in the introductions to each index.

Compiled by Francis X. Blouin, Jr.
1802 - 1882 Index and Guide to Massachusetts State Legislative Documents

Compiled by Francis W. Quinn, III
1883 - 1899 Index of Reports to the General Court

Compiled by Leonard Adams
1883 - 1899 Index to Massachusetts Legislative Documents

Compiled by the Massachusetts Legislative Research Bureau
1900 – 1988 Index of Special Reports Authorized By the General Court

Compiled by the State Library of Massachusetts
1988 – Mar. 1994 Index to Special Reports Authorized By the General Court
Jan. 1994 – Dec. 2005 Index to Special Reports:  Authorized By the General Court

Resources for most recent reports:
•  State Library’s online catalog
•  House, Senate, and Joint committees
•  Mass.gov (agencies and special commissions often post reports to their webpages)

Kaitlin Connolly
Reference Librarian