"The law" is a complex combination of three types of law in the US.

• Statutory Law:
  • laws passed by a legislative body
    • ex. US Congress or state Legislatures
• Administrative Law:
  • decisions, rules, and regulations made by administrative agencies
    specifying how they will carry out legislation
    • ex. US Environmental Protection Agency
• Case Law:
  • court decisions, usually opinions written by appellate courts,
    which are binding law on the lower courts in the jurisdiction

Legal research can be confusing and time-consuming.
Be prepared to spend a fair amount of time in your research
as you become familiar with legal terms and citations.

Legislative histories provide more information about a statute and its background such as why the law was passed or what effect the legislature intended a particular section of the statute to have.

Reviewing a statute's legislative history is helpful when trying to determine the legislature's intent in passing a law

A statute's legislative hisotry refers to the the various documents created during a bills progress through the legislature.
  These often include

1. revisions
2. debates
3. hearings
4. reports about the bill