This LibGuide was created by our friends at Tulane University Law Library. It has been adapted and used with their permission.
Act: a bill which has been enacted by the legislature
Amendment: a bill that changes an existing act
Bill: a proposed act drafted by a legislative body. Bills are usually numbered consecutively as they are introduced
LA Calendar: lists bills in numerical order, once a week during the session. It indexes bills and gives history and status.
LA House and Senate Journals: include daily outlines of a bill's progress, voting records of legislators, absence reports, etc. They do not include verbatim floor debates.
LA Resume: is published at the end of each legislative session and includes detailed tables of all legislative activity. It has short abstracts on changes made by new acts and information on vetoed, repealed or suspended laws. It is indexed and has tables with approval and effective dates by bill number and tables with statute sections effected.
Law: used to refer to cases, statutes, acts, regulations, ordinances, etc.
Statute/code: a subject based arrangement of the acts of a legislature
Bill sponsors are sometimes the only source of information on state legislation. Bills list the sponsor information.
From 1997 to the present, all available legislative history documents (except committee minutes*) are online here.
*Committee minutes can be ordered from the House Docket 225-342-6458 or the Senate Docket 225-342-2365.
1996 & earlier, you will need the bill number, year, and session. This information is in the Acts of Louisiana. With this information, legislative histories can be ordered from the House Docket 225-342-6458 or the Senate Docket 225-342-2365.
Before 1976, there is no written or recorded legislative history information, except for entries in the Legislative Calendar.
Official information generated before a bill becomes a law make a legislative history. These include edited verions of a bill, committee hearing minutes or recordings about a bill, and legislative calendar and journal entries which track bill progress through the legislative process. The House and Senate do not issue reports on bills.
Unofficial sources can also be helpful and include bill sponsors as well as law review and newspaper articles.
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Resources |
1997-present |
1996 & Earlier |
Before 1950 |
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Bills |
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Calendars, Resumes, and Journals |
(Calendars & Journals from mid-19th Century to the present. Resumes from mid-1950s to the present) |
(complete set - some available only in French) |
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Committee Meetings/Hearings |
(1999 to present) |
Legislative Archives (225-922-1209 has some audiotapes back to the late 1970s) |
The Law Library of Louisiana and area law school libraries in can also be helpful. Please contact them for more information about their holdings and services.
Please contact the Louisiana Section of the State Library with your questions about the material found in this LibGuide at 225-342-4914 or click Ask-a-Librarian.