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Michigan Legislative History: Finding the Bill Number

This guide is designed to help you find Michigan legislative documents in the Law Library and elsewhere.

Bills That Have Become Law

When only the P.A. number and year are known:

For 1997 forward, search public acts on the Michigan Legislature website. The result will indicate the bill number for the act.

In print, find a conversion table of P.A. numbers to bill numbers in the appropriate volume by year of Final Status (1964-1997).

Alternately, use the Table of Acts and Bill Numbers in the back of the last volume for the appropriate year of the House Journal and/or the Senate Journal.

When only the M.C.L.A. citation is known:

First convert the M.C.L.A. citation to a P.A. number, then convert the P.A. number to a bill number.  Be aware, a section of M.C.L.A. may have been amended many times, listing several P.A. and bill numbers for one section of code.

Search Michigan Compiled Laws by section number and note the P.A. number indicated in the “history” section.  Continue by using the procedure in the section above.

In print, look up the appropriate section of M.C.L.A. The P.A. year(s) and number(s) appear at the end of the text of the statute. Find the transfer table of P.A. numbers to bill numbers in the appropriate volume by year of Final Status or the House Journal and Senate Journal.

When only the sponsor and year are known:

For 1997 forward, search bills by sponsor and year here.

For bills introduced between 1974 and 1997, look in the sponsor index in the appropriate volume by year of Final Status. Bills that became law should be marked with a star.  

Bills That Failed to Become Law

When only the topic and year of the bill are known:

For bills since 1997, search by keyword and year or by “category” (subject) and year.

In print, use the "Bill and Joint Resolution Index" in the House Journal and Senate Journal. This index is located in the last volume for each year.

Alternately, use the categorical index in the appropriate volume by year of Final Status. Bills that became law have a star next to them.

When only the sponsor and year of the bill are known:

For 1997 forward, search bills by sponsor and year.

In print, use the general index in the House Journal and Senate Journal. The index will be found in the last volume of each year.

Alternately, use the sponsor index in the appropriate volume by year of the Final Status. Bills that became law have a star next to them.

Bills Whose Year of Introduction is Not Known

For bills introduced in 1997 or later, search by keyword. Search each legislative session separately.

In print, use the House Journal for bills introduced in the House and the Senate Journal for bills introduced in the Senate. Search the bill and joint resolution index (subject index) for the bill’s topic and/or the general index (name index) for the bill’s sponsor for all years in which the bill could have been introduced.

Bills Currently Under Consideration by the Legislature

When only the topic of the bill is known:

Search bills by keyword and year, by “category” (subject) and year or use the advanced search here.

If the keyword search does not work, there is also an option to "Browse Bills by Session.”

MI Legislature Website

Limited to 1996-Present

MI Legislature Website

Legislative material including:

  • MI Constitution
  • MI Compiled Laws
  • House Journal
  • Senate Journal
  • Bills
  • Public Acts
  • Resolutions
  • Legislative Analysis
  • Committee Records
  • Fiscal Analysis

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