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New York State Legislative History

A legislative history is compiled as a method to determine the intent of the legislative body enacting the law.

Materials / Documents Used to Research Legislative History

  1. Bills:  Senate and Assembly -- Bills are proposed statutes.  They are introduced in either the Senate or the Assembly and are assigned numbers that indicate the chamber of origin, ie. S. 100 or A. 100.  If the bill does not pass during a legislative session, it "dies". 
  2. Bill Jackets --There are Approval Jackets and Veto Jackets:
    1.   Approval Jackets:  These are arranged by year and chapter number.  It will include the text of the bill and the sponsor's memorandum.  It may also include correspondence and memoranda of state departments and agencies.
    2. Veto Jackets:  The Governor's veto message is included in the veto message.  These are useful for comparison with legislation on the same issue that may pass at a later date.
  3. Session Laws -- Each bill that is passed during a legislative session is given a "Chapter" number.  At the end of the year the Chapter laws are arranged in numerical/chronological order and published as the annual session laws.   The title of the annual compilation is McKinney's Session Laws of New York.
  4. Consolidated Codes -- These are compilations of current laws of a general and permanent nature arranged by subject.  This library has McKinney's Consolidated Laws of New York - not to be confused with the session laws - and the New York Consolidated Laws Service (CLS).  These are also available online, see Documents by Resource.
  5. Legislative and/or Governor's Memoranda -- Every bill introduced must have an introducer's memoranda explaining the purpose of the bill.  The Governor may write an "Approval" memorandum when signing a bill; however, it is not required.  Technically the Governor's memorandum is not part of legislative history/intent as it is written after the bill has passed the legislature.
  6. Senate and Assembly Documents -- There are four document series compiled to cover a set time period.  These are a source of reports containing legislative recommendations. 
  7. Public Hearings -- Hearings are usually held on a topic and not a specific bill.
  8. Reports of the Law Revision Commission -- The commission seeks to identify defects and anachronisms in the law and recommend needed reforms.  The reports set out the reforms proposed by the Commission.