The Legislative Synopsis and Digest provides a chronology of all action on each bill by each chamber of the General Assembly. Using the bill number, locate the summary of amendments and the chronology of legislative action. These lists will give you an idea of which debates you are interested in looking at. The publication of the debates for each chamber of each General Assembly begin in October 1971 and are available on microfiche. The chamber, General Assembly number, and the day number are all necessary to locate the correct microfiche card.
Legislators have an opportunity to comment on a bill during the second and third reading.
The debates contain a transcript of what is said on the floor of the House or Senate and are the primary source for substantive discussion of the intent of the legislature. For these earlier years you should consult the conversion table in the back of the appropriate debate index volume. In later years, the index cites to chronological dates which are listed on the appropriate headers of each fiche. Since the mid-1970s, House Committee meetings have been recorded on audio tapes. To order these tapes by phone it is necessary to provide bill number and General Assembly number or a Public Act number.