Fall and spring semester hours
During the fall and spring semesters, the reference desk is typically available for walk-up, email, phone, or chat questions during these hours:
Hours vary during finals, intersession, and summer sessions.
The typical legislative history researcher has a section from the California Code and seeks to determine the legislative intent behind it. Use either of the two California annotated codes to begin this process: West’s Annotated California Codes (LRC California KFC 30 .W4 or on Westlaw) or Deering’s California Codes Annotated (LRC California KFC 30 .D4 or on Lexis). Three numbers are needed to begin compiling a statute’s legislative history:
Example: Cal. Civ. Code §1946.1, immediately following the text of the statute is this parenthetical:
Record that information, as it is the cornerstone of your research. While you are in the annotated codes, look for Historical and Statutory Notes (if included), and references to Law Revision Commission Reports, committee reports and law review articles pertaining to its legislative history. You may want to check the other annotated code, as the coverage is different between Deering’s and West’s.
For Statutes enacted prior to 1993, the bill number is not provided in the annotated statutes.
Now that you have obtained this information, you need to use it to find the text of the bill itself along with any analysis – this is likely the most important and most useful aspect of legislative history that may shed light on intent. Your sources for bill text and analysis differ depending on when the bill was chaptered: 1999-present, 1993-98, or pre-1993.