By Richard C. Edwards, Executive Director, Legislative Reference Bureau. Determining the intention of the legislature is the cardinal rule of statutory construction.
Courts seek that intention first in the plain meaning of the statutory language.
If the language is ambiguous, however, courts then use intrinsic and extrinsic aids to interpretation. The legislative history of a Public Act is an extrinsic aid to interpretation. Sulser v. Country Mutual Ins. This article describes how to work backwards to determine the legislative history of existing statutory law. Interpretations of statutes by administrative agencies, the Attorney General, and the courts are also not discussed.