Policy Research: Histories & Tracings
Histories & Tracings Background
What are histories and tracings?
Legislative histories or tracings show all pieces of legislative item's history as it moves through the law making process. Usually histories or tracings show a summary of the topic, dates bills were discussed in committees, hearings, reports related to the legislative issue, and more. These products can also show where or how a policy gets ingested into the United States Code, or locally, in the Oregon Administrative Rules.
Why use histories and tracings?
Legislative histories and tracings provide rich contextual information about the legislation's formation. Edits to bills, congressional testimony, and viewing political processes provide a window into the complex network and circular nature of public policy. For example, a history will link to past versions of bills and hearings. From the hearings you will be able to view transcripts and read arguments made by witnesses from Congress, advocacy organizations, and citizens. This contextual information helps shape the policy story for any policy researcher.
Legislative Histories in ProQuest Congressional
Search available federal Legislative Histories in ProQuest Congressional. Simply limit your search to "Legislative Histories" on the search page.
Related Guides
Resources
- ProQuest CongressionalContains citations to full text US legislative information from 1970 to the present, with additional coverage of Congressional hearings from 1824 - 1979.
Use the "Legislative histories 1969-present" limiter in your searches, or narrow your search results by "legislative history" to finding tracings.
- Oregon Legislative Bill TracingsInformation on selected bill tracings from the Oregon State Archives. To find tracings using the search function, you must use the Internet Explorer internet browser.
Tips and How tos
- How to Trace Federal Legislation - Library of CongressOutlines steps for tracing federal legislation.
- Oregon Final Legislative Calendar byCall Number: L.3C12 - Oregon Documents Collection 4th FloorUse this to find a bill's history including referral to committees, public hearings, and enrolled and engrossed versions and dates. "Showing record of all bills, resolutions, and memorials acted upon by the Legislative Assembly of Oregon."