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Try GovInfo for authenticated archival full-text access to essential federal publications from all three branches of government. Including bills, Congressional publications, regulations, laws, codes, and a variety of other materials. GovInfo will become part of DiscoverGov later this year.

Congress.gov is also an official federal legislative site. This resource provides substantial collections of bills, session laws, Congressional reports, educational material, and information about the House and Senate and their members.

Understanding the Legislative Process

The following materials are recommended for anyone who would like to review the process through which bills and resolutions become law.

Notes on Laws

Notes on Finding Laws:

Session Laws - Compilations of session laws provide a chronological record of laws passed in specific time period. For example, in Congress, a session is a two-year legislative period. To see a law as it appeared on the day it was signed into law, use Session Laws. Statutes at Large is the official federal compilation of session laws.

Codes - To see a law as it has been incorporated into the body of laws and amended since the date of passage, use codes. The United States Code is the official compilation of federal laws.

Annotated Codes - Annotations provide links to related court cases, amendments to previous versions of a law, etc. As previously noted, annotations can provide help with assembling legislative histories.

In legal proceedings, it's important to cite official versions of codes and session laws. Codes published in sources like Westlaw Campus are useful resources, but are not generally considered "official texts. That said, they are generally accepted for most student work. In some instances, including the United States Code and the General Laws of Massachusetts, the print sources are still considered authoritative.

Federal Bills, Laws, and Codes

YouTube-Tracing Massachusetts Legislation

Massachusetts Bills and Laws

In addition to the traditional news outlets, several resources provide insight into Massachusetts politics and policy. These include the State House News Service  and Commonwealth Beacon.

Laws from Other States

Use the States and Territories link (Law Library of the Library of Congress). Links to state legislative sites provide access to bills, session laws, and codes of law. State pages also include links to legal guides, maps, and some primary sources.

Other options include:

Law Library of Congress

The Law Library of Congress is one of the premier legal research centers in the world, covering both domestic and international law. We recommend that you explore the Library's many research resources, including the Legal Research Institute which offers many webinars on both foreign and domestic issues.

Some helpful links include:

Need more help?

Please e-mail Roxanne Palmatier, Legal Studies Librarian.