Legislative history also may include vetoes and other action by the governor. If a bill is still in committee at the end of a session, it dies and its history ends there for the session or entire two-year Legislature. Legislative intent is the purpose of a bill or an act.
Intent is useful when the language of the bill or act is unclear or ambiguous.
Legislative history is used for discovering sources of information about the intent of the bill or act. Refer to the history note enclosed in brackets following the text of each code section. The note contains references to the original enactment and each amendment, if any, by year and Session Law citation. For a complete history of the RCW section, a separate search must be done for each year and session cited. Consult the session laws to find the bill number and to determine the year that changes in the law were made.