Oregon has increasingly documented the legislative process, and the year a bill was introduced determines how much legislative history material is available. Pivotal to researching legislative intent are the minutes created by the House and Senate committees in their deliberations on the measures that come before the chambers. The minutes summarize the hearings and highlight major points of discussion, and include date and time of hearing, individuals present, and measures heard, and are kept for House, Senate, Joint and Interim committees. The minutes vary in detail as to the actions and discussion that took place in the committee meetings and are not a verbatim account of the meetings. Prior to audio taping, which began selectively in 1957, there is no verbatim account of the committee meetings. Exhibits include proposed amendments, written testimony, reports, and letters regarding bills, submitted by legislators, committee staff, and witnesses. Since 1987 some exhibits have been submitted on video tape.
The legislature did not begin keeping committee minutes and exhibits until the late 1920s when the Interim Workmen's Compensation Committee materials for 1926-27 were placed with the Oregon State Archives, which is the official repository of Oregon Legislative History. Much of the earlier materials in the form of the 1843 Organic Laws creating Oregon's Provisional Government, some original bill files dating from 1876 to 1931, and manuscript copies of Senate and House Journals dating from 1865 to 1923, were destroyed in a fire in the state capitol in 1935. Thus there are few legislative history materials predating 1926. Continuous recordkeeping began in 1961 when ORS 171.420 was passed directing the deposit of legislative records with the Archives. Committee minutes from 1991 to the present are searchable on the Internet at http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/banners/legis.htm. Exhibits are not included on the Internet.
The reference staff at the Archives compiles "legislative tracings" on bills for which someone has requested the legislative materials. The tracings show the committees through which the bill has passed, the dates and pages in the minutes where discussion can be found, a listing of exhibits, and a listing of the corresponding audio tape, if one exists. The researcher may wish to contact the Archives first to see if a legislative tracing already exists for the particular bill being researched. Their telephone number is (503) 373-0701, x1. Legislative history before 1961 is sketchy and the researcher should check with the Archives for full availability.
The legislative history materials at the University of Oregon Jaqua Law Library consist of microfilm containing the committee minutes and exhibits from 1947 through 1995. These are located in the microfilm area on the north end of the 2d floor of the Reading Room, KFO 2410 .O74 L44, cabinets 22 - 25. Interim committee reports are not included on the microfilm and the researcher should check with a librarian for availability. For each legislative session, the minutes from each house are arranged alphabetically by committee name, and thereunder chronologically by hearing date. The exhibits are arranged alphabetically by committee name, and thereunder by bill number, date, letter or subject. The Law Library does not have the audio tapes themselves. The researcher must either go to Salem to review the audio tape, or request a copy for a small fee.
The Guide to Legislative Records in the Oregon State Archives (KFO 2821.5 .C6 A126, in the Reference Area and in the microfilm index section on Range 12 of the Reading Room), published by the State Archives, contains a records inventory of the minutes, exhibits and audio tapes available from the state archives; these are organized by legislative session and committee. This inventory does not give a detailed list of contents of the microfilms for particular bills, but it can alert the researcher to whether there are exhibits for the session and committee being researched. This inventory may be accessed via the Internet also.
STEPS FOR RESEARCHING
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY IN THE UO LAW LIBRARY:
1.If you have a statute citation, find the statute in the Oregon Revised Statutes (KFO 2430.2 .O74); otherwise, use the subject index to ORS to locate the statute. The statute enables you to find the session law (chronological compilation of laws enacted during a legislative session) cite with the enactment date. For example, when you turn to ORS 107.169, you find the text of the statute, and the session law cite at the end -- [1987 c.795 § 6]. This statute was enacted by Oregon Laws 1987, chapter 795, section 6. The use of the word "chapter" in this context is not the same as ORS chapter numbers. If there is no bracketed date at the end of the statute, it was passed before 1953, and you must look up the statute in Prior Legislative History -- Oregon Revised Statutes 1953 Ed. (KFO 2430 1953 .A2).2.The session law cite enables you to find the bill number by which your statute was known as it proceeded through the Senate and House. Go to the Oregon Laws (KFO 2425 .A2) volume for 1987 and look up Chapter 795. At the beginning of Chapter 795, you will find the bill number -- in this case HB 2718, which is House Bill 2718.
3. The bill number enables you to find the committee assignments in the Final Legislative Calendar (KFO 2406 .O68), located in both the Reading Room stacks and in the microfilm index section of Range 12. With the committee assignments, you can go to the microfilm and find summaries of the minutes and exhibits when your bill was discussed before legislative committees, from which you can determine whether to request a copy of the audio tape from the State Archives in Salem. For example, go to the 1987 Final Legislative Calendar and look up HB 2718. You will see that this bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on February 23, 1987. An amended version of the bill was referred to the Senate on May 4 -- "5-4(S)" -- and then on to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 5. Note that bills retain their designation as House bills or Senate bills throughout a legislative session, even when they are considered by the other legislative chamber.
4. Go to the microfilm cabinets, and continuing with the example above, find the drawer for the 1987 legislative session and find the House Judiciary Committee film, the Senate Judiciary Committee film, and exhibit films for both these committees. There may also be rolls for Joint Committee Minutes and Exhibits, Interim Committee Minutes, House and Senate Conference Committee Minutes, and various other committees.
When you find the film you need, look to see if there is a Measures and Status Index at the beginning of the roll. This index lists bill numbers in numerical order and tells you on what audio tapes the committee minutes were recorded. You should do an inclusive search from committee referral to "do pass"; do not rely only on the dates cited in the Legislative Calendar or in the Measures and Status Index. If there are notations of referral to other committees, or assignments to subcommittees, you should check the microfilm for those committees and subcommittees to see if there is material of interest.