NYS+Legislative+History+Materials

=​NYS Legislative History Materials= __Overview__ In comparison to federal legislative history research, NYS legislative history research produces few documents. Oftentimes, this makes it difficult to determine legislative intent. The NYS Legislative history documents generally available include:
 * Bills
 * Introducer’s memoranda
 * Governor’s memoranda
 * Bill Jackets (memos, correspondence, etc…)
 * Transcripts of legislative floor debates and hearings

The following __flowchart__ represents the NYS Legislative process and documents produced at each stage.

__Vocabulary__


 * Bills**: introduced in Senate or Assembly. Either S or A will come before the bill number. A or B will come after. A-1234-A is a bill introduced in the Assembly, A-1234-B is the amended version of the bill.


 * Introducer’s Memoranda**: required by Senate and Assembly rules to accompany a bill. It explains the purpose of the bill.


 * Governor’s Memoranda**: article 4, §7 of the NYS Constitution requires the Governor to write a memoranda explaining why any bill is vetoed. Approval memoranda might also be written but not required.


 * Bill Jacket**: includes letters from interested parties (lobbyists, state administrative agencies, attorney general etc…). This is the best information for legislative intent purposes.


 * Debates and Hearings**: transcripts of these proceedings are hard to find.

__Good Resources NOT included in the Bill Jacket__


 * Legislative Documents**: are reports containing legislative recommendations. They are sometimes referred to in the Credits or History section of a statute. There are 4 bound series: 1830 documents, 1831-1918 Assembly documents, 1831-1918 Senate documents, and 1919-1975 documents. These documents have not been bound together since 1975.


 * Law Revision Commission Reports**: established in 1934 to examine common law and statutes that are need of reform or modernization. Their reports make recommendations to the Legislature. Some of these reports are found in McKinney’s or CLS’s session laws.


 * Bar Association Recommendations**: Some legislation will prompt the respective bar associations (NYSBA, Association of the Bar of the City of NY) to write a report or recommendation.

__Where to Start__
 * Know the law’s year of enactment and chapter number. Example L. 2006, c. 101
 * Look at the Historical Notes (after statutory text) in McKinney’s or CLS to find enactment year and chapter number.

__Tips/Hints__
 * Depending upon what you are looking for, some legislative documents are included in McKinney’s Session Laws, CLS Session Laws and the Legislative Annual. You might want to check them first.

> o Has bill jackets from 1996 to almost present > o Offers many legislative tracking options.
 * __Westlaw__

> o Has bill jackets from 2005 to almost the present > o Offers a legislative tracking option.
 * __Lexis__

> o Need a password to access > o Good place to look for status of a bill > o Does not have typical bill jacket materials. > o Free option is the NYS Legislature website.
 * __Legislative Retrieval System__

> o NYS Archives has bill jackets online (2000-present) > o Albany Law has bill jackets online (2000-2006) and on microform. > o NYS Library has bill jackets on microform.
 * __Other sources for bill jackets__

> o __Compiling the Legislative History of a New York State Law__from the NYS Library
 * __A good tutorial for NYS Legislative History__: