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Ohio Legislative History

What is legislative history?
Persuasive authority of legislative history documents
Steps in finding legislative history documents
Types of legislative history documents and how to find them.
Further reading

 

What is it? Sometimes the meaning of a statute is unclear. Legislative history documents may shed light on what the General Assembly intended when they passed legislation. Legislative history documents are materials issued when the bill was going through the legislative process.

QUICK FIX: If the Act was passed 1989 or later, a great place to start is Ohio Capitol Connection . For Acts 1997 and later, the Ohio General Assembly's webpage has many documents accessible.

Powerpoint re. Ohio Capitol Connection

For a QUICK OVERVIEW of Ohio Legislative History Research, see Ohio and Other States' Legislative History.

 

Persuasive Authority of Legislative History Documents: Courts may or may not rely upon the legislative history documents. In Ohio, legislative history documents are not "of record", unlike federal legislative history, so they are not required to be retained. The weight given by courts to various types of legislative history documents is discussed below. For more info see OJur3d Statutes, Sections 165-168

 

Steps in Finding Legislative History:

If enough information is compiled in the first steps, you do not need to proceed to subsequent steps:

1. Look at the Revised Code Section in Page's or Baldwin's. Find prior versions of the code section via the "History" or "Credits" section underneath the text of the code section. See How Do I ?: Find Prior Versions of a Statute. Additionally, the Revised Code may have reprints of committee comments, uncodified session law language or other language indicating intent underneath each code section.

2. Pull the session laws listed in the "History" or "Credits" to see what changes the legislature made to the statutes. See How Do I ?: Find Prior Versions of a Statute. See if the session laws contain uncodified language concerning intent.

3. Find as many legislative history documents as you can in your local law library and on the web: different versions of bills, LSC Analysis, House and Senate Journals, etc. If the legislation is 1989 or later, Ohio Capitol Connection is the best way to start. For bills 2005 and later, many documents are on Lexis (OHLH - Ohio Legislative Bill History). Westlaw (Ohio Legislative History, OH-LH) has various legislative history documents, coverage generally beginning in the early 2000s.

4. Look at news articles from Gongwer or Ohio Capitol Connection. These publishers issue articles concerning legislative actions and developments. News articles from the Plaindealer or other Ohio newspapers may contain articles about newsworthy legislation.

5. Look at treatises and law reviews, especially from around the time the legislation was passed. You may find an article or treatise section saying why the legislation was passed.

6. Contact the Ohio Historical Society for General Assembly Committee Files. 614-297-2546. The Bill Files may contain transcripts of hearings, prepared statements by witnesses, reports, voting records and copies of bills. Ohio Historical Society librarians will search for you, for a fee.

7. For information about the current and the immediately preceding General Assembly, call the Ohio Legislative Hotline, 1-800-282-0253

8. Try the Legislative Service Commission Library, 614-466-2241 for notes of hearings.

9. Contact the sponsor of the bills or the committee chairman. Representatives contact information.
House Committees and chairs.

Senators contact information.
Senate Committees and chairs.

 

 

Types of legislative history documents:

Other materials which may help determine legislative intent:

 

 

Session Laws:

Session laws indicate what changes were made to prior statutes. The session law may contain language indicating legislative intent, such as the intent to refute the holding of a court case. These statements are usually in "uncodified" sections of the bill. For an explanation of uncodified bill sections, see Tools for Understanding a Bill, Chapter Six of A Guidebook for Ohio Legislators, Ohio Legislative Service Commission, 2007. Also see A Guide to Legislative History in Ohio, Ohio Legislative Service Commission's Members Only Brief, July 24, 1998, at page 7.

The official source for session laws is: Laws of Ohio . KFO 25 .A23 [Ohio Room] vol. 1- (1803 -). Uncodified laws and laws vetoed by the governor are included. For more sources about session laws go to Ohio Legal Research Guide>Legislation>Session Laws.

 

Bills

Prior versions of the bill and amendments made to the bill during the legislative process may shed light on legislative intent. For bill sources, go to: Ohio Legal Research Guide>Legislation>Bills

Cases holding that the legislature's later insertion or deletion of language in later versions of the bill may show legislative intent: Caldwell v. State,(1926), 115 Ohio St. 458 ; Katz v. Department of Liquor Control of Ohio,(1957) 166 Ohio St. 229 ; Connole v. Norfolk & W. Ry. Co., (S.D. Ohio 1914), 216 F. 823.

See resources for Tracking Bills

 

Debates and Hearings

The Ohio Channel contains video recordings of floor debates going back to 1997. Hearings and debates are not officially recorded.

"The courts in the case of a constitutional provision, as well as an act of congress, will refer to the debates for the purpose of determining what the meaning of the enactment is where there is doubt, but the expression of opinion of the individual members of congress, or of the individual members of the constitutional convention, is not conclusive." Dayton & U.R. Co. v. Dayton & Muncie Traction Co.  14 Ohio Dec. 17; 1 Ohio N.P.N.S. 218  (Ohio Com.Pl. 1903) (Case deals with an Ohio statute)

 

Testimony and Committee Reports

May not be easy to come by, but here are some possibilities:

(1) Ohio Capitol Connection (1989 forward) includes reporters' notes of Committee activity. Click on "Bill History".

(2) Some testimony is filmed for inclusion with the LSC bill analyses, KFO 25 .A23  [Microforms Room, Drawer ZZ70] 1962-current.

(3) Notes of hearings taken by Legislative Service Commission staff may include some testimony. These notes are available at the Legislative Service Commission Library, 614-466-2241.

(4) Committee notebooks are available at the House and Senate clerk's office for the past 2 sessions. Older committee notebooks are at the Ohio Historical Society.

(5)The Ohio Historical Society has General Assembly Committee Files, which may contain committee reports

(6) Contact the committee chairperson. Contact information.

The Court of Common Pleas could resort to committee reports and statements made in legislative debate as an aid in construing a statute, and such rule extended to written statements of members of legislative and bar committees. Neff v. Cleveland Trust Co., 21 Ohio Op. 461, 35 Ohio L. Abs. 1, Ohio Com.Pl.,1941.

 

House and Senate Journals

  • Journals contain procedural accounts of legislative activity, not a transcript of proceedings. Contains voting records, and the text of floor amendments.
  • "...every statute should speak for itself, and be construed by itself; but if there be doubt as to its construction, resort may be had to extraneous matters, and nothing of this kind is more satisfactory than the journals of the body by which it was enacted." State ex rel. Peters v. McCollister (1841), 11 Ohio 46,56.
 

Bulletin of the General Assembly- Bill History Information

KFO18 .O44 (selected years available)

A Bulletin is issued for each General Assembly Session. It contains bill history information, similar to the Status Report of Legislation found on each bill's page on the Ohio General Assembly's Search for Legislative Information. Example: status report for 2006 SB 185. Bulletins include tables of affected Ohio Revised Code sections and a subject index to legislation.

Bill history information can also be found on Ohio Capitol Connection, starting with bills introduced in 1989. Gongwer has bill history information from 2003 forward. The bill history information can be used to identify dates of legislative action, and find articles from those dates in Gongwer or Ohio Capital Connection.

 

Digest of Enactments, previously called Summary of Enactments

KFO15 .L42 107th(1967)-120th(1994)(incomplete holdings) and 1996-current. Also on the LSC Web site from 1997-2005

Synopsis of passed legislation, prepared by the Legislative Service Commission and based on the Legislative Service Commission's Final Analysis. The Supreme Court of Ohio has cited several Digest of Enactment entries as evidence of legislative intent, for example: Meeks v. Papadopulus (1980), 62 Ohio St.2d 187;State ex rel. Cincinnati Bell, Inc. v. Industrial Com. (1978), 55 Ohio St. 2d 89,92

 

Legislative Service Commission Analysis

When a bill is assigned to a committee, the Legislative Service Commission (LSC) prepares an analysis of the bill "as introduced". The LSC updates the analysis as changes are made to the bill. It issues analysis "as reported by ______ committee" and eventually issues a "final analysis". For earlier years, Ohio Capitol Connection only contains final analysis, not all the versions of the LSC Analysis. The microfilm generally has all available versions of the bill analysis.

The LSC Analysis provides a summary of the bill, and how that bill would change current law. The analysis may identify problems with the bill, such as constitutionality or internal inconsistencies. It may or may not shed light on legislative intent.

"As to the value of Legislative Service Commission analyses, we have observed: '* * * Although this court is not bound by such analyses, we may refer to them when we find them helpful and objective.'" State, Industrial Com. v. American Dynamic Agency, Inc., 70 Ohio St. 2d 41, 44 (Ohio 1982), quoting Meeks v. Papadopulus (1980), 62 Ohio St.2d 187, 191.

Fact sheets prepared by the Legislative Service Commission, which explain changes proposed by legislature, may not be used to give meaning to legislative enactment other than that which is clearly expressed by General Assembly. Cuyahoga Metro. Housing Auth. v. Cleveland  63 Ohio App.3d 353, 578 N.E.2d 871 (Ohio App. 8 Dist.,1989)

 

Fiscal Notes

Fiscal notes state the monetary impact of the legislation on state and local government. Found in: Ohio Capitol Connection, 1989-current;Lexis OHLH - Ohio Legislative Bill History, 2005- or at the LSC's web site, since 1997. May be contained in Analyses [of bills of the Ohio General Assembly] KFO 20 .A53  [Microforms Room, Drawer ZZ70] 1962-current.

 

Synopsis of Committee Amendments

A "Synopsis of Committee Amendment" is prepared by the Legislative Service Commission. This document summarizes amendments made by a committee of the second house to review the legislation. The legislators in the first house (house where the bill orginated) may review the synopsis when the bill returns for a concurrence vote. Floor amendments are not included, as these are contained in the House and Senate Journals.

 

Conference Committee Synopsis

The Conference Committee Synopsis is a summary of a conference committee report. The synopsis is prepared by the Legislative Service Commission.

 

 

Governor's Messages on Legislation

When the governor signs or vetoes a bill, he may comment upon the legislation. Sources:

 

News

There are two newspapers which cover legislative news in Ohio:

  • Hannah Report - Ohio Capitol Connection contains an archive of Hannah Report articles that is searchable back to 1989. For recent bills, the page for each bill lists relevant articles.
  • Gongwer News Service Ohio - Searchable online news reports from 1999 to current. In print from 1978-2002, KF015.A24 [Ohio Room]. CD-Rom available for the years 1989-1998.
  • The Plain Dealer or other Ohio newspapers may also contain information about legislation.
 

 

Further reading:

A Guide to Legislative History in Ohio, Ohio Legislative Service Commission's Members Only Brief, July 24, 1998.

Ohio Legal Research by Hall and Sampson, Ch. 10

Ohio Legal Research Guide by Putnam and Schaefgen, Chapter 5, KFO 75 P88 1997

Ohio Legislative History, The Supreme Court of Ohio Law Library Information Series

Guide to State Legislative and Administrative Materials by William H. Manz, William S. Hein & Co., Inc., KF1 .G8 2002

 

SA 7/2007

Links checked 5/1/2009, SA

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