LEGISLATIVE DOCUMENTS AND PROCESS
Determining the intention of the legislature is the cardinal rule of statutory construction. Courts seek that intention first in the plain meaning of the statutory language. If the language is ambiguous, however, courts then use intrinsic and extrinsic aids to interpretation. Intrinsic aids include various canons of interpretation, such as expressio unius est exclusio alterius (to express one thing is to exclude another -- negative implication). The legislative history of a Public Act is an extrinsic aid to interpretation. Sulser v. Country Mutual Ins. Co., 147 Ill. 2d 548 (1992); In re October 1985 Grand Jury No. 746, 124 Ill. 2d 466 (1988); Morel v. Coronet Ins. Co., 117 Ill. 2d 18 (1987).
Legislative history includes legislative documents such as bills, adopted amendments, defeated amendments, and conference committee reports; committee testimony, records, debates, and actions; floor debates and actions; and the Governor's messages and actions.
This article describes how to work backwards to determine the legislative history of existing statutory law. Other aspects of legislative history, such as (i) previous statutes on the same subject and (ii) court decisions to which the legislation was a response, are not discussed, although they may be revealed when examining legislative debates. Interpretations of statutes by administrative agencies, the Attorney General, and the courts are also not discussed. Moreover, what weight a court may give in construing a statute to any particular element of legislative history is not analyzed in this article. The intent of this article is merely to describe the documents and actions that comprise legislative history and to give guidance on how and where to find the records relating to those documents and actions.
LEGISLATIVE DOCUMENTS AND PROCESS
The following is an outline of the basic legislative documents and actions that comprise legislative history as they occur in the legislative process:
(a) House of origin
(1) Introduced bill
(2) Amendments by house of origin
(A) Adopted
(B) Defeated
(C) Not acted on
(3) Committee proceedings
(4) Floor proceedings
(b) Second house
(1) Engrossed bill (incorporates any amendments adopted by the house of origin)
(2) Amendments by second house
(A) Adopted
(B) Defeated
(C) Not acted on
(3) Committee proceedings
(4) Floor proceedings
(c) House of origin
(1) Motion to concur in any amendments adopted by the second house
(2) Motion not to concur in those amendments
(3) Committee proceedings
(4) Floor proceedings
(d) Second house
(1) Motion to recede from any amendments of the second house not concurred in by the house of origin
(2) Motion not to recede from those amendments
(3) Committee proceedings
(4) Floor proceedings
(e) House of origin
(1) Conference Committee Reports
(A) Adopted
(B) Defeated
(C) Not acted on
(2) Committee proceedings
(3) Floor proceedings
(f) Second house
(1) Conference Committee Reports
(A) Adopted
(B) Defeated
(C) Not acted on
(2) Committee proceedings
(3) Floor proceedings
(g) Governor
(1) Enrolled bill (incorporates any amendments of the second house concurred in by the house of origin
and any changes made by a conference committee report)
(2) Approval message
(3) Veto message
(A) Total
(B) Amendatory
(C) Item
(D) Reduction
(h) House of origin
(1) Motion to override veto
(2) Motion to accept (amendatory veto)
(3) Committee proceedings
(4) Floor proceedings
(i) Second House
(1) Motion to override veto
(2) Motion to accept (amendatory veto)
(3) Committee proceedings
(4) Floor proceedings
(j) Governor
(1) Re-enrolled bill (incorporates amendatory veto)
(2) Certification of amendatory veto
The following places are where records to be used in compiling the legislative history of a statute may be found:
(1) Individual copies of bills (introduced, engrossed, and enrolled), amendments (including both adopted amendments and defeated amendments), conference committee reports, and motions can usually be obtained from the State Archives division of the Secretary of State's office. Available ones date from 1819 onward (Illinois was admitted to the Union in 1818). There may be instances in which committee documents or reports are also available.
If the General Assembly only recently considered the bill, then legislative documents for that bill may not yet be available from the State Archives. Contact instead the Office of the Secretary of the Senate and the Office of the Clerk of the House.
The text of amendments, conference committee reports, and motions (but not bills) is also found in the House Journals and Senate Journals.
Legislative documents for the 90th General Assembly (1997-98) and subsequent General Assemblies may be found on the General Assembly Web site.
Senate Journals and House Journals for 1999 and thereafter may be found on the General Assembly Web site.
(2) Committee hearings have been recorded by the House since 1975 and are available on tape from the Office of the Clerk of the House. The Senate does not tape its committee hearings.
(3) Transcripts of floor debates may be found on the General Assembly Web site and may also be obtained from the Index Department of the Secretary of State's office. These are available for both houses dating from October 1971 onward.
If transcripts are not yet available on the website or from the Index Department, contact the Office of the Secretary of the Senate and the Office of the Clerk of the House.
(4) Copies of individual Public Acts may be obtained from the Index Department of the Secretary of State's office. Public Acts for each General Assembly are also found in the Laws of Illinois, usually referred to as the Session Laws, published by the Secretary of State.
Public Acts of the 90th General Assembly (1997-98) and subsequent General Assemblies may be found on the General Assembly Web site.
The following research aids may be used in compiling a legislative history of a statute:
(1) The Legislative Synopsis and Digest is published periodically by the Legislative Reference Bureau. This publication traces the actions taken on bills as they move through the General Assembly from introduction through final action. A synopsis of each bill, amendment, and conference committee report is given, but it should not be considered an analysis. The Digest indices are valuable research tools. Bills are indexed by statutes amended, sponsors, and subject matter. Digest indices for the 92nd General Assembly and thereafter may be found on the General Assembly Web site.
Digest summaries and actions for the 90th General Assembly (1997-98) and subsequent General Assemblies may be found on the General Assembly Web site.
(2) Senate Journals and House Journals are published after each session of the General Assembly. Located in the last volume for each house is an index that shows all actions taken on a bill by reference to page numbers of the Journal.
(3) West's Smith-Hurd Illinois Compiled Statutes Annotated contains a list of all Public Acts that have amended a Section of an Act together with "Historical and Statutory Notes" that summarize the changes made by all, or at least the most recent, of those Public Acts. West's unannotated Illinois Compiled Statutes also contains a list of all Public Acts that have amended the Section. Michie's Illinois Compiled Statutes Annotated contains a list of the most recent, sometimes all, Public Acts that have amended a Section.
(4) When a bill becomes law, the Secretary of State assigns a Public Act number. For example, P.A. 85-837 was the 837th Public Act of the 85th General Assembly. The Public Acts are then published by the Secretary of State in the Session Laws. The Session Laws provide a means of determining what bill became a particular Public Act and the date that bill passed the General Assembly. The Session Laws are indexed by statutes amended and subject matter.
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Office of the Clerk
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Office of the Secretary
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State Archives
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Index Department 111 East Monroe Springfield, IL 62756 Phone: (217) 782-7017 |
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Legislative Reference Bureau 112 State House Springfield, IL 62706 Phone: (217) 782-6625 |
Suppose you are defending a person charged with perpetrating a sexual act upon a child under the age of 13. A question arises concerning jury instructions if certain hearsay testimony is admitted at trial. These instructions are required by subsection (c) of Section 115-10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (725 ILCS 5/115-10(c)).
A search of Section 115-10 in the annotated statutes reveals that the requirement to give jury instructions was added to that Section by P.A. 85-837.
The next step is to determine what bill became P.A. 85-837 and when the bill was passed. This is found by looking up the Public Act in the Session Laws. P.A. 85-837 was House Bill 2591 of the 85th General Assembly and was passed on June 30, 1987.
The final Legislative Synopsis and Digest for the calendar year 1987 is the next place to look. The synopses reveal that the jury instruction requirement was added to the bill by Senate Amendment No. 1. Senate Amendments Nos. 2 and 3, which did not relate to jury instructions, were also adopted. No amendments were offered and defeated; if any amendments had been offered and defeated, they might be an indication of what the legislature did not intend by House Bill 2591. Sponsors, committee assignments, total votes, and other matters are also indicated in the Digest. The bill was heard in the House Judiciary II Committee and in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The House Journal and Senate Journal indicate the following concerning House Bill 2591:
(1) Heard in the House Judiciary II Committee on May 7, 1987.
(2) Passed the House on a Consent Calendar on May 22, 1987. Because the bill was on a Consent Calendar there is virtually no likelihood that there was floor debate.
(3) Heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 10, 1987.
(4) Senate Amendment No.1 was adopted on the floor of the Senate on June 23, 1987. Senate Amendments Nos. 2 and 3 were adopted on June 25, 1987.
(5) The bill, as amended, passed the Senate on June 26, 1987.
(6) On June 27, 1987 the House concurred in Senate Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 and refused to concur in Senate Amendment No. 3.
(7) The Senate refused to recede from Senate Amendment No. 3 on June 29, 1987, and a conference committee was requested and appointed.
(8) On June 30, 1987 both the House and Senate approved the first conference committee report.
A copy of Senate Amendment No. 1, which adds the new language concerning jury instructions, is found in the Senate Journal for June 23, 1987 and may also be obtained from the State Archives.
A tape of the House Judiciary II Committee hearing on May 7, 1987 is available from the Office of the Clerk of the House. The tape, however, contains no discussion of the jury instruction requirement because that language was added later by Senate amendment. As previously noted, tapes are not available for Senate committee hearings.
Transcripts of the Senate and House floor debates may be obtained from the General Assembly Web site or from the Index Department. The transcripts, however, contain no debate on the jury instruction issue.
The search of the legislative history of House Bill 2591 has so far proved fruitless. That is not necessarily the end of the story, however. Often in the legislative process, proposed language will migrate from bill to bill as the sponsor looks for a way to pass the proposal out of both houses. Therefore, you need to search further.
The Senate sponsor of House Bill 2591 indicated in floor debate that Senate Amendment No. 1, which contained the jury instruction language, was the same as Senate Bill 1377 of the 85th General Assembly. A search of the Legislative Synopsis and Digest indices and synopses also would have indicated this. Thus, the next step is to compile a legislative history of Senate Bill 1377 because it contained language identical to that in Senate Amendment No. 1 to House Bill 2591.
If a search of Senate Bill 1377 also proves fruitless, look through the Digest indices for the same as well as one or more previous General Assemblies. As is often the case with legislative proposals, the language may have been around for several years before becoming law. Somewhere along the way someone may have said or done something significant with respect to the jury instruction issue.
Finally, bills may have been introduced in the General Assembly after the passage of House Bill 2591 (P.A. 85-837) to amend the jury instruction language. Even though these bills did not become law, they still could have a bearing on the interpretation of the jury instruction language. For example, the changes proposed by a failed bill could be an indication of what the language of P.A. 85-837 does not mean; otherwise, presumably, the changes would not have been proposed. Whatever implications may be drawn from these failed bills, it is worth the effort to search for them. This search begins by checking the statutes index of the Legislative Synopsis and Digest for all periods of time around and after the date when House Bill 2591 passed the General Assembly.
As the example shows, compiling a legislative history requires thoroughness and persistence. Although the search may not yield positive results, it is nevertheless worth the effort because occasionally you will find something that will aid in interpreting a statute.
Note: A version of this article appeared in the Illinois Bar Journal, Vol. 84, No. 4, April 1996.
Some other resources concerning researching Illinois legislative history are the following:
Illinois Supreme Court Library http://www.state.il.us/COURT/SupremeCourt/library/Library_Research.asp
University of Illinois College of Law http://www.law.uiuc.edu/library/ref_legislative_history_illinois.asp
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville http://www.siue.edu/lovejoylibrary/research_tools/research_guides/legislation.shtml
Northwestern University Legal Research Center http://www.law.northwestern.edu/library/research/illinoischicago/illinois/legislativehistory/
Washington University in St. Louis Law School http://law.wustl.edu/Library/index.asp?id=1347
John Marshall Law School http://www.jmls.edu/library/Illinois%20Legislative%20History%20Research%20Guide%202008.doc
Illinois State Bar Association http://www.isba.org/faq/legislationfaq.html