Sources of Legislative Intent
Courts frequently look to the following sources in attempting to determine the goals and purposes that the legislative body had in mind when it passed the law:
- the text of the bill as proposed to the legislative body
- amendments to the bill that were proposed and accepted or rejected,
- the record of hearings on the topic
- legislative records or journals
- speeches and floor debate made prior to the vote on the bill
- legislative subcommittee minutes, factual findings, and/or reports
- other relevant statutes that can be used to understand the definitions in the statute on question
- other relevant statutes which indicate the limits of the statute in question
- legislative files of the executive branch, such as the governor or president
- case law prior to the statute or following it which demonstrates the problems the legislature was attempting to address with the bill
- constitutional determinations (Would Congress still have passed certain sections of a statute had it known about the constitutional invalidity of the other portions of the statute?)
- legislative intent, which is the reason for passing the law
Read more about this topic: Legislative Intent
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