Pollak Library → Research Guides → Government Information →  Law: Research Guides → CALIFORNIA LEGISLATIVE HISTORIES

 California Legislative Histories
  A Guide To Resources In CSUF's Pollak Library

California Assembly Resources:
      Bills & Official Publications (Bills, Assembly Journals, Daily Histories, Statutes)
      Guide to Legislative Research 

Related CSUF Research Guide: California Bills

Additional Guides:
     California Legislative History Research Guide [LA County Law Library]

California Legislative Hearings      top

To find California legislative hearings owned by Pollak Library, search the Library Catalog using the following sample searches as examples. It is important to note that not all California hearings are printed and are therefore not available in Pollak Library.

KEYWORD: california hearing*
KEYWORD: california hearing* child abuse

The results list will include both California and U.S. hearings. To limit to California only, next click on Limit/Sort and search by AUTHOR: california.

To limit by year of publication, click on Limit/Sort and and then select Sort results by year and enter years of your choice.

If You Have A Bill Number       top

      Internet Resources

Official California Legislative Information (1993-current date)

• California Assembly and Senate Bills, 1993-current date.
• Full text of bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments.
• Status, history, votes, analyses, and veto messages.
• Legislative Counsel's Digest appears at the head of the bill. This is a summary of the bill's intent.
• If you know the bill number, select the session and House of origin and type the bill number in the search box.
• If you do not know the bill number, select the session and House of origin and then type the keywords and/or author(s).
• Legislative Index is available from this site to allow searching by subject or keyword. Also available in print 1973-current date: REFERENCE KFC14 .C35  CATALOG RECORD

Print Sources       top

• Summary Digest (REFERENCE KFC38 .C34 ) CATALOG RECORD
  Note: The Summary Digest is also bound into Statutes and Amendments to the Code (REFERENCE KFC25 .A213 ) CATALOG RECORD , in the last volume for the year, in a section following the codes.
  • Go to the CROSS REFERENCE TABLES (they appear in the last volume for the year, following the summaries), look up the bill number, and write down the chapter number.
  • Go to the SUMMARY DIGEST section and look up that chapter number. Here you will find the author, relevant sections of the code, and a summary of the statute. Now that you have a code section, follow instructions below for If You Have A Code Section.
  • SUBJECT INDEX facilitates finding bills by subject terms.
• Legislative Index and Table of Sections Affected (1973-current date) REFERENCE KFC14 .C35  CATALOG RECORD. Search by subject or keyword.

If You Have A Code Section       top

Online

LexisNexis Academic [CSUF only]

• LexisNexis Academic
• Legal Research
• State Codes
• California
• More Options
• Search for Cite [Example, type: 1797.188]
• Scroll to the end of the section of the code. Following is an example of the information on the legislative history of this section that is available here:
  HISTORY: Added Stats 1986 ch 999 § 1. Amended Stats 1988 ch 260 sec 2.
  AMENDMENTS: 1988 Amendment: Substituted (1) subd (a)(1) for former subd (a)(1) which read: "(1) 'Emergency medical technician' ….
  COLLATERAL REFERENCES:
  LAW REVIEW ARTICLES: Review of 1986 Legislation. 18 Pacific LJ 669 (1987).

Print      top

1. Go to West's Annotated California Codes (REFERENCE KFC 30.5 .W4) CATALOG RECORD.
2. Look up the code section. The chapter number and relevant legislation will be cited at the end of the code section. Write this down. For example, at the end of Health & Safety Code 1797.188 is the note "Added by Stats 1986 c 999 sect.1" - this means you will find the final text of the act as passed by going to Statutes and Amendments to the Codes for 1986, chapter 999 sect.1.
3. Shepardize the code section for further appellate cases and law review articles that may discuss intent. To Shepardize, go to Shepard's California Citations: Statutes (REFERENCE KFC 39 S54s) CATALOG RECORD and look up the statute.
4. Look at the statute as it appears in Statutes and Amendments to the Codes (REFERENCE KFC25 .A213 ) CATALOG RECORD to compare it with the codified version in West's (REFERENCE KFC 30.5 .W4).
5. Use the chapter number (999) to find the bill number by looking in the Summary Digest (the Summary Digest is included as a section in Statutes And Amendments To The Code (REFERENCE KFC25 .A213 ) CATALOG RECORD, following the codes). The Summary Digest also is published separately (REFERENCE KFC38 .C34 ) CATALOG RECORD. The Summary Digest of Chapter 999 is given as SB 1518.
6. For bills 1993-date, go to the web site Official California Legislative Information—www.leginfo.ca.gov—and search by bill number (SB 1518). View text of the bill. At the head of the bill is the Legislative Council's Digest, which is a summary of the bill's intent.
7. Go to Assembly Final History (REFERENCE JK8778 H5 ) CATALOG RECORD —(CSUF owns 1973-date) or Senate Final History (REFERENCE JK8776 H5 ) CATALOG RECORD—(CSUF owns 1973-date). For the above example, go to the Senate volume for 1986 and look up the bill number (SB 1518).
   This will tell you what committees reviewed the bill and if there were any hearings or reports. It also gives the dates of each action. Often the hearings and reports are not published, but do check. To check if they have been published, go to California State Publications (DOCS/STATE CALIF L575 P94 ) CATALOG RECORD (CSUF owns 1964-date).
8. You can also check the dates in the Journal of the Assembly (REFERENCE JK8778 J7) CATALOG RECORD—or Journal of the Senate (REFERENCE JK8776 J7) CATALOG RECORD. These journals usually list only what took place on a specific date but may contain a letter from a legislator or some other valuable information. For the above example, go to the Senate volume for 1986 and search by date or go to the INDEX and look up the bill number (SB 1518).
9. Secondary Sources: LexisNexis, ProQuest Newspapers, and Factiva, are full-text subscription databases that may have newspaper and journal articles about legislation. California Journal is included full-text in Lexis-Nexis. California Journal is also available in print: PERIODICALS JK 8701 .C33 (CSUF owns 1970-date).
10. Personal Contact. Contact a committee or committee members to inquire about the existence or availability of other materials. For Committee lists, go to the California State Assembly web site at www.assembly.ca.gov/ or the California State Senate web site at www.sen.ca.gov/.
11. California State Archives collects materials and makes them accessible to the public. They maintain the governor's chaptered bill file from 1943-1967 and 1975-date. They also collect materials from sponsors and committees. Researchers can view the materials at the Archives in Sacramento or the staff may photocopy and mail items for a fee. The Archives can be contacted at 916-653-7715. Or visit their web site at www.ss.ca.gov/archives/archives.htm.

Legislative Intent      top

For an examination of California legislative intent research see:
Chapter 4, Legislative Intent, in Henke’s California Law Guide, 6th ed. (Reference KFC74 .H46 2002), pages 63-121.

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