Legislative Intent and Legislative History Legislative Intent and Legislative History Legislative intent refers to what lawmakers had in mind in passing an act or statute.
Intent is useful when the language of an act is unclear or ambiguous.
Judges, attorneys, historians, and others study intent for guidance in interpreting a statute. Legislative history is the written and spoken record that documents the stages in the passage of a bill or resolution as it goes through the legislative process. Legislative history is used for discovering sources of information about the legislative intent. The State Law Library , University of Utah Law School's S.J. Quinney Law Library , and Brigham Young University Law School's Howard W. Hunter Law Library also have most of the publications necessary for this research, but do not have unpublished documents. Useful records include copies of of the law, legislative journals, legislative bills, committee hearings, floor debates, and subsequent actions of the governor.