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PS 502: North Carolina Legislative Process
Introduction of Bills
Bills introduced in the North Carolina General Assembly may originate from
a variety of sources. Any concerned citizen, group, or organization may
suggest topics for consideration to legislators. Only members of the
General Assembly can introduce a proposed law, thereby becoming a bill's
sponsor.
The formal language found in bills is usually composed in one of these two
agencies: "The Legislative Services Commission's Bill Drafting Division
drafts bills at the request of the members of the General Assembly. The
Office of the Attorney General has the statutory duty to draft bills for the
State departments and agencies generally, including the General Assembly."
Bills may be introduced in either the House or the Senate. Sometimes
companion bills - two bills that contain the same text - are introduced at the
same time in both chambers. A bill is read once, and assigned to one
or more committees for review.
A bill's text usually changes as it is deliberated by various committees
and by both bodies of the Legislature. Researchers should consult each
of a bill's versions to learn how it has been changed during its journey
through the General Assembly.
Electronic Bill Texts from Recent
Years
-
North
Carolina General Assembly - Bill Look-Up By Number, 1985 -
- - Select one session of the Legislature, 1985-86 to present.
- - Enter a House or Senate Bill number.
- - The results screen contains links to multiple versions of the bill, a
Vote History, and a section outlining the bill's History.
-
North
Carolina General Assembly - Full Text Bill Search, 1989 -
- - Use this page to search bills by keywords.
- - Select one session of the Legislature, 1989-90 to present.
- - A few limits are available: House/Senate, All
bills/Ratified/Unratified.
- - Search phrases using quotes to reduce the number of results.
-
North
Carolina General Assembly - Bill Inquiry, 1985 -
- - Select one session of the Legislature, 1985-86 to present.
- - This feature allows you to choose among a number of categories with
which to search: bill attribute, bill number, chamber, session law
number, statute number, committee, county, introduction date, last action
taken, short title, sponsor, title, or term word.
-
Lexis/Nexis State
Capital, 1990 -
- Resource available only to NCSU students and
staff.
- - Choose "Bills" on the initial screen.
- - Next choose either "Bill Text by Keyword" or "Bill Text by Bill
Number."
- - A third screen lets you enter a bill number or keyword; choose a state
or states; and a session or date range.
On-Line Bill Histories from Recent
Years
The North Carolina General Assembly's website and Lexis/Nexis State Capital
both provide electronic outlines of a bill's history, but only since the mid-
1980s.
-
North Carolina
General Assembly - Legislation - Bill Tracking, 1985 -
- - Each of the bill search options described above provides a outline of a
bill's legislative history.
-
Lexis/Nexis State
Capital, 1990 -
- Resource available only to NCSU students and
staff.
- - Choose "Bills" on the initial screen.
- - Next choose either "Bill Tracking by Keyword" or "Bill Tracking by Bill
Number."
- - A third screen lets you enter a bill number or keyword; choose a state
or states; and a session or date range.
Breaking News Source
-
NCGA Legislative
Library
- - has two locations: the Legislative Building (LB, 16 W. Jones
Street) and the Legislative Office Building (LOB, Room 545, 300 N. Salisbury
Street).
- - For a bill with status in flux, you may telephone the Legislative
Library at (919) 733-9390 (LOB) or (919) 733-7778 (LB) for up-to-the-minute
information.
Print and Microfiche Sources of Older Bill
Texts
There are several repositories in Raleigh and Chapel Hill that retain
paper, or microfilmed, texts of bills.
-
NCGA Legislative
Library
- - has paper bill texts in the LB, 1985 -
- - has the most recent few years in the LOB.
- - has microfilm bill texts in the LOB, 1971 - 1983.
-
North Carolina
State Archives
- - has the longest extant run of bill texts.
- - Examine the card catalog of General Assembly Session Records.
- - Each session's bills are recorded and filed with other records from a
session.
- - has 1730-1760 (scattered holdings), 1760s to 1973/74 session (complete
files)
-
State Library of North
Carolina
- - has collected bills that did not become law since 1973.
- - has older bills from 1949 (only a few), 1951, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1963,
and 1965; but it's not known if those files are complete or contain a defined
subset of the bills from these years.
-
UNC-CH, Wilson Library, North Carolina
Collection
- - has 1858-1936 (scattered holdings), 1937-1999 (complete)
-
UNC-CH, Institute of Government
Library
- - has all versions of bills, 1949 -
Print and Microfiche Sources of Older Bill
Histories
For bills from years prior to 1985, the indexes to the House and Senate
Journals identify actions taken on specific
legislation.
-
NCGA Legislative
Library
- - has bill histories in paper for 1973, 1975, 1979, 1981-1984.
- - has bill histories in microfilm for 1969-1984.
-
UNC-CH, Institute of Government
Library
- - has bill histories, 1969 - 1996.
The General Assembly and the Institute of Government have issued several
titles that report the status of bills:
- Daily Bulletin, 1935 -
- Not held at NCSU.
- - Current issues of the Daily Bulletin via web and fax are available by
subscription from UNC Institute of Government.
- - The Daily Bulletin has this title history:
-
Bulletin (Institute of Government (Chapel Hill, N.C.). Legislators' Division)
(1935-1942)
-
Daily legislative bulletin (Raleigh, N.C.) (1945-1956)
-
Daily bulletin (University of North Carolina (1793-1962). Institute of
Government) (1957-1962)
-
Daily bulletin (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Institute of
Government) (1962 - )
- Weekly Status Report, 1969 -
- Not held at NCSU.
- - Issued, 1969-1989, by the General Assembly as two titles:
-
Weekly Status Report for local bills (1969-1989)
-
Weekly Status Report for public bills (1969-1989)
- Index of Legislation, 1987 -
- D.H. Hill Stacks KFN7410 .G46
- - is an annual compilation of actions on bills by the General
Assembly.
- - published by Legislative Reporting Service, Institute of Government,
UNC-CH.
- - organized in six sections: Status report for public bills,
Enacted public bills, Index of public bills, Status report for local bills,
Index of local bills, Enacted Legislation.
Librarian Contact Information
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