Florida Legislative History

This guide outlines the process for legislative history research and well as providing information for where materials may be found on both publicly available websites as well as those materials that are also available via commercial databases such as LexisNexis and Westlaw. Use the menu on the left side of this guide to find materials needed for conducting legislative history research for Florida legislation.

Florida Legislative History Process

Step 1 - Find the Bill number of the statute you wish to research.

This step requires the researcher to already have a provision of the Florida statues they wish to research in mind.
Once you have a statutory section you wish to research, look up this section via Florida's Online Sunshine, Florida Senate, or commercial database of your choice.
- Listed at the bottom of each statutory section will be a History of the bill. History notations are presented in chronological order with the oldest being the origination of the statute.
- Each citation listed in the history section corresponds with a Session Law or Laws of Florida citation. Make note of which amendment(s) you wish to research.
Look up this Laws of Florida/session law citation via the Laws of Florida page of State Library or a commercial database of your choice.
- Once you have found your Laws of Florida document, review the document for the legislative bill number which should appear at the top of the first page.

Step 2 - With the Bill number discovered, trace the bills history by consulting the Final Legislative Bill Information.

Final Legislative Bill Information should be reviewed for information such as names of the committees to which the bill was referred, dates on which any important actions such as readings or debates occurred, and votes on the bill from both committees and entire bodies.

Step 3 - Review the committee reports/staff analysis for each Bill that has amended your statute.

Committee Reports and Staff Analysis' provide the most insight into the purpose behind a particular legislative item including what considerations the committee made in reviewing, amending, and/or approving a particular bill for consideration by the entire chamber.
Committees may also amend bills, or replace a bill with a committee written substitute. The committee reports will often address the rationale behind amendments.

Step 4 - Consult Florida House and Senate Journals for texts of any floor amendments.

The Journal of each chamber will contain a daily record of the legislative session. Detailed information regarding bill actions can be found by referring to important dates discovered in Step 2 and then reviewing the Journal for that particular date.
After the bills emerge from the committees, they must be "read" on the floor of the chamber.
Generally, after the second reading and before the third reading members of the body will have an opportunity to propose amendments to the legislation. These amendments will be noted in the Journal of the respective chamber on the day in which the action took place (refer back to Step 2 for important dates).
The Journal of a respective chamber will also list a detailed vote summary on dates in which committees or the entire body voted on the legislation.

Florida Statutes

Florida statutes are the law of Florida as created by the Florida legislature. Any legislative history research must begin with either an existing Florida statute or constitutional provision.

Laws of Florida (Session Laws)

A verbatim publication of the general and special laws enacted by the Florida Legislature in a given year and published each year following the regular session of the legislature. It presents the laws in the order in which they are numbered by the Secretary of State, as well as resolutions and memorials passed by the legislature.

Committee Reports/Staff Analysis

Each bill introduced in the Florida Senate or the Florida House of Representatives is assigned to a legislative committee of the chamber in which the bill was introduced for their review. Committees then consider the bill, gather evidence, hear witness testimony, an review the bills for fiscal considerations and conflicts with existing Florida law. Committees then prepare a Committee Report or Staff Analysis and make a favorable or unfavorable recommendation regarding the bill to the full body of their respective chamber.

Staff analysis' are important for legislative history research in Florida because they provide the most insight into the thought process behind approving a bill for consideration by the full body of their chamber. Staff analysis':

Discusses the language of the bill.
Summarizes existing law related to the subject of the new legislation and differentiates between them.
Delineates the goals of the legislation.
Examines the potential effects of the legislation.
Provides “fiscal notes” examining the financial impact of the legislation on the state and/or departmental budgets.
Includes economic impact statements examining the impact of the legislation on the broader economy as related to the subject matter of the bill.

Legislative Journals

Legislative Journals are the official daily and annual record of the proceedings of the Florida legislature. The Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives each produce a journal specific to their chamber.

The Senate Journal is considered the official record of the Florida Senate as overseen by the Secretary of hte Senate. Daily Journal are provisional. An annual journal is produced at the conclusion of each annual legislative session.

The House Journal is considered the official record of the Florida House of Representatives as overseen by the Clerk of the House. Daily Journals are considered provisions. An annual bound journal is produced prior to the beginning of the next annual legislative session.

Florida Statutes

The Florida statutes are available in two formats: statutes and annotated statutes. Statutes are the official codification of laws in Florida while the annotated statutes provide additional insight, context, and reference materials such as case law that interprets the statute or regulatory rules related to the statute.

Florida Statutes

Florida statutes are available via two Florida government publicly accessible websites.

Florida Annotated Statutes

Annotated statutes are available via the commercial subscription databases LexisNexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law. Current STU Law students are provided a subscription for these services. Please contact the Law Library if you need to obtain access.

LexisNexis Annotated Florida Statutes

West's Florida's Statutes Annotated

Bloomberg Law Florida Statutes

Laws of Florida (Session Laws)

The Laws of Florida are available from the Florida State Library Archives website: http://laws.flrules.org/

Additionally, the laws of Florida are available from:

Westlaw (current session)
Westlaw (historical)
Bloomberg Law (note: Law of Florida from Bloomberg are in a searchable database only. One cannot 'browse' for the session law they are looking for)

Committee Reports/Staff Analysis

Florida legislative committee staff analysis' are available from the relevant legislative chambers website and can be found by searching for the statute for which one needs the staff analysis.

Florida House of Representatives - www.myfloridahouse.com

Click on 'Bills' and then search or browse for the bill in question.

Florida Senate - www.flsenate.gov

Click 'Session' in the upper menu bar and then 'Bills'

Legislative Journals

Florida legislative journals are available from the relevant legislative chambers website and can be found by searching for the statute for which one needs the staff analysis.

Florida House of Representatives - www.myfloridahouse.com

Click on 'Publications' and then 'House Journals'

Florida Senate - www.flsenate.gov

Click 'Session' in the upper menu bar and then 'Journal'

Important Florida Supreme Court Decision

Florida courts generally require a statute to be ambiguous in order to review the legislative intent behind a Florida statute.

State v. Egan, 287 So.2d 1 (Fla. 1973).
- Ruled that only when a court finds a statute to be ambiguous may it then consider the legislative intent.
Webber v. Dobbins, 616 So.2d 956 (Fla 1993).
- Ruled that in addition to ambiguity, courts may consider legislative intent where there are "cogent reasons" to suggest that the plain terms or plain meaning of the statute do not accurately reflect the intent of the legislature.