Legislative Histories

A legislative history consists of records generated as legislation is introduced and progresses through the legislative process. Histories are primarily used to determine legislative intent.

Documents that may be requested through the Office of the Clerk of the Legislature are discussed below. However, since documents are generated at different stages of consideration, some items may not be available for legislation that did not progress all the way through the process.

Committee Hearing Records These records typically include the Introducer’s Statement of Intent, the committee hearing transcript, and the Committee Statement.

Floor Transcripts Transcripts are available of the verbatim debate among senators on items before the legislature when it is in session.

Information about legislation considered in recent years is readily accessible on the Legislatures website under the “Chamber Viewer” and “Legislative Histories” tabs. Video recordings of committee hearings and of floor debate became available beginning in January 2025 and may be accessed on the website in addition to or in lieu of transcripts.

Due to older technology and different storage processes in earlier biennia, information not available on the website may be requested from the Legislative Historian by completing the form provided.

Records for this period are scant so some documents will not be available. Committee hearing records are available on microfilm. There was no floor debate prior to 1960.

Documents from this time period are not available through the Clerk of the Legislature's Office. The State Law Library has Journals and Slip Laws prior to 1937. The State Law Library can be contacted at (402) 471-3189 or nsc.lawlibrary@nebraska.gov.

A gutted bill is one that, when introduced, addressed a certain subject matter but whose contents were changed during the legislative process. A bill’s content can be "gutted" entirely and replaced with new content, or other provisions can be added to the bill’s original content.

Gutting can make constructing a legislative history difficult. Beginning in 1991, the chronology of bills in the "Legislative Journal" will contain a citation if a bill has had other bills amended into it. Determining whether a bill prior to 1991 was gutted can be difficult; the first sign that a bill was gutted may be that the public hearing testimony (original bill) is not related to the bill as it was passed (gutted bill). However, you may find a reference to the content of the original bill in the floor debate records.

If you don't find what you need on the Legislature's web site you can request a legislative history from the Legislative Historian.