Washington Legislative History Research

Introduction

Legislative history can be helpful in determining the legislative intent or the purpose of a bill or an act. It can be used to clarify meaning when the language of a law is ambiguous. It may also help the researcher understand why certain words or phrases were included or omitted in a law by the legislature.

Washington legislative history may be located in a variety of ways depending on what the researcher is seeking, what resources are available to the researcher and what information has already been obtained. The resources and materials can be used to begin a legislative history research project. If you have any difficulty locating or utilizing the resources below, please contact a reference librarian.

Washington Legislative History Sources

Revised Code of Washington (RCW)

The topical compilation of Washington state laws. Session law citations are located at the end of each section brackets. This will tell you when the statute was originally enacted and the subsequent amendments, if any.

Official RCW by the Statute Law Committee and the Code Reviser (available at most libraries). A free version is available online at the Washington State Legislature’s website.
Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (MRSC) > Legal Resources > RCW/WAC.
LexisNexis publishes the Annotated Revised Code of Washington (ARCW). It is available in print or online with a LexisNexis subscription.
Subscribers of Westlaw have access to the RCW without annotations WA-ST or as the Revised Code of Washington Annotated (RCWA) WA-ST-ANN. The RCWA is also available in print, published by Thomson-West.

Final Legislative Report

The Legislative Report, also known as the Final Legislative Report, includes bill reports written by the legislative staff. It is a good resource for locating overall intent or general information about a bill. If the bill was vetoed, the Governor’s veto message is also included. It begins in 1975 and may be found in Washington law libraries.

Washington State Legislature’s website

The Washington state legislature provides free access to many documents relevant to a legislative history back to 1991 and some bill documents back to 1985.

Detailed Legislative Reports are available back to 1991 and will provide access to any bill documents and reports that are available. Do not be confused by the current biennium listed near the top of the page, especially if you are seeking information from a previous session. Select “Bill Summary (History of a Bill)”. On the next screen type in the bill number and use the pull down menu in the upper right to select the appropriate year.
If you do not know the bill number, the Washington State Legislature’s website has an RCW to Bill number lookup available for the current session. For sessions back to 1991, the Bills by Citation function can be used to locate bill information using an RCW number.
For information on bills back to 1985, use the Washington State Legislature advanced legislative search function and select Previous Bienniums.

Laws of Washington

The session laws of Washington are published in the Laws of Washington and contain the bill number and the text of bills as passed by the state legislature. The bill number is listed in the table of contents or you can find it on the first page of the relevant chapter (in brackets). This publication is helpful in determining what text was added, amended or deleted by the legislature during the particular session.

Legislative Digest and History of Bills of the Senate and House of Representatives

Legislative digest and history of bills of the Senate and House of Representatives is available back to the early ‘70s in many Washington state law libraries. It will help a researcher identify important information about a bill such as dates of legislative actions from the House and the Senate and effective date, if applicable. The information available in this publication is helpful in identifying when committees met and hearings were held so that a researcher can more easily locate documents that are related to those events.

Journal of the House and Journal of the Senate

The House Journal and Senate Journal contain information on floor actions such as readings, amendments, motions and effective dates. They may also include colloquies, though not often. Both journals should be consulted since each bill that is enacted passes through both the House and the Senate. To find the relevant pages, use the “History of Bills” table located near the end of the last volume of the session. It is a chart that lists page numbers for each action by bill number. Check each page listed next to the bill number that you are interested in.

Both journals are searchable online back to 1993 using the Washington State Legislature advanced legislative search function. The Journals are located under Other Textbases > Journals.

Washington State Public Affairs TV Network

The Washington State Public Affairs TV Network (TVW) provides audio and video to several different types of legislative events. TVW has archives available back to 1997 for House and Senate Committees and floor actions. In addition, it has available archives back to 1996 for Joint Sessions and Committees.

Washington State Archives

There are several types of materials only available at the Archives including: House and Senate Committee Bill Files, House and Senate Committee Meeting Files, and House and Senate Committee Meeting Tapes. Before contacting the archives, make sure you have the bill number and year. Contact the Washington State Archives for more information about their materials and services.

Subscription Databases

LexisNexis

If you have access to LexisNexis, you may be able to obtain limited legislative history back to 1989. The databases listed below may not be included in your LexisNexis subscription and additional charges may apply. Please contact your account manager for more information. Under the Washington tab, locate “Find Statutes, Regulations, Administrative Materials & Court Rules.” There you will find the databases below. Check the source description for content and coverage.

Washington Legislative Bill History
WA - Washington Advance Legislative Service
WA Bill Tracking and Full-Text Bills
WA Full-Text Bills
WA Bill Tracking Reports

Westlaw

If you have access to Westlaw, you may be able to obtain limited legislative history back to 1988. The selected databases listed below may not be included in your Westlaw subscription and additional charges may apply. You may have access to alternative databases with legislative history information. Please contact your account manager for more information. Check the scope note for content and coverage.

Washington Legislative History (WA-LH)
Washington Legislative Service (WA-LEGIS)
Washington Historical Legislative Service (WA-LEGIS-OLD)
Washington Bill Tracking - Summaries & Full Text Combined (WA-BILLS)
Washington Bill Track Summary Archives (WA-BILLTRK-OLD)

Additional Resources

These publications may be helpful in further understanding the legislative process in Washington state and/or provide additional guidance on how to research legislative history or related areas.

"At the Reference Desk" on Washington State Legislative History Research (Seattle University Law Library Podcast, 2009).
Arthur C. Wang, Legislative History in Washington, 7 U. Puget Sound L. Rev. 571 (1984).
Philip A. Talmadge, A New Approach to Statutory Interpretation in Washington, 25 Seattle U. L. Rev. 179 (2001).
Ann Hemmens & Cheryl Rae Nyberg, “Washington Territorial Legal Materials” in Prestatehood legal materials: A fifty-state research guide, including New York City and the District of Columbia. 1323-1367 (M. G. Chiorazzi & M. Most eds., Haworth Information Press 2005).
Beth Williams, “Researching Washington State Initiatives and Referendums” 26 LRSQ 309 (2007). Co-published in Exploring Initiative and Referendum Law: Selected State Research Guides. (Beth Williams ed., Routledge 2008).

The Legislative Process and Accompanying Documents

The Washington legislative process can be very complicated. If you need a better understanding of the process and the documents that are produced along the way, ask a reference librarian or consult with the following documents.

Overview of the Legislative Process.
Edward D. Seeberger, Sine die: a guide to the Washington State legislative process. (University of Washington Press 1997).
How a Bill Becomes a Law (pdf download).
The Washington State Legislature (pdf download).
Additional Educational and Instructional Materials from the Washington State Legislature.

Additional Information on Washington Legislative History

These guides will give you a more in-depth look at the documents, resources, and process of doing a Washington legislative history research project. It is highly recommended that you consult with one of these guides before you begin your research.

Peggy Roebuck Jarrett, Legislative History, Initiatives and Bill Tracking in Washington Legal Researcher's Deskbook 3d 154-165 (P.A. Hazelton ed., Marian Gould Gallagher Law Library 2002).
University of Washington Marian Gould Gallagher Law Library, Washington State Legislative History.
King County Law Library, Washington Legislative History Research Guide.
Washington State Law Library, Washington Legislative History & Legislative Intent.
Washington State Archives, Legislative History.

Last Updated 5/18/2009

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