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California Legislative History Research: Governor's Chaptered Bill Files

Attempt to find what legislators were thinking when drafting a law by looking at the documents created during the legislative process.

detail on Step 3: Governor's Chaptered Bill Files

The Governor's Office maintains a file for each legislative bill that is chaptered (signed into law) or vetoed. These files typically contain analyses by the Legislative Counsel, Attorney General, other constitutional officers, state agencies, and the Governor's staff. Correspondence from bill authors and affected organizations and individuals are also often included. Vetoed bill files include the Governor's veto message.

Find these files for 1943-2010 on microfilm located in Micro Room, LL205 (Case 18.)

Microfilm is not available for 2011 forward. Researchers can request GCBFs from the California State Archives

  • by emailing archivesweb@sos.ca.gov and requesting the file by chapter number and year (requests will be filled in a few weeks)
  • by visiting the State Archives in person (archivists will pull the file while you wait)

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