Bill Search
Bill search allows you to search for any type of legislation within the General Assembly. There are two ways to utilize bill search: by display code or by keyword.
Display Code Search
A display code is made of three elements: Chamber + Legislation Type + Number.
Chambers
Legislation Types
- Bill (B)
- Resolution (R)
- Concurrent Resolution (CR)
- Joint Resolution (JR)
- Amendment (A)
- Substitution (S)
Display codes can use the long name or abbreviation of both the chamber and legislation type. For example, you can search using House Bill 123 or HB 123 to find the same result.
Chamber + Legislation Type
Example
House Bill, HB
Number
Example
123
Chamber + Amendment Number + to Base Legislation Display Code
Using the word "to" will recognize the amendment relationship. Chamber and Number are optional, but will help narrow your search.
Example
House Amendment 1 to House Bill 123, HA to HB 123
Chamber + Substitute Number + for Base Legislation Display Code
Using the word "for" will recognize the substitute relationship. Chamber and Number are optional, but will help narrow your search.
Example
House Substitute 1 for House Bill 123, HS for HB 123
Limitations
Bill search by display code only accepts a single piece of legislation. Currently, Bill search does not accept ranges or comma-separated lists.
Search legislation by keyword
If you know the subject matter or sponsor of the legislation but are unsure of the display code, then you can utilize keyword search. Keyword search looks at four areas of a bill:
-
Long Title: The formal title appearing at the head of the legislation
- Synopsis: The brief summary of the document text
- Primary Sponsor: The main legislator who presents the legislation for consideration
- Document Text: The full text of the legislation
Keyword Search Features
Keyword search can look for single and multiple keywords. It looks to see if any of the contains a match to the entered text.
Single Keyword
Entering in a single keyword will look at the above areas of a bill to see if it contains this keyword. For example, searching for education will find all bills with education in the title, synopsis, primary sponsor (although unlikely) and document text.
Multiple Keywords
Searching for multiple keywords looks at the above areas of a bill to see if it contains any of the keywords. For example, searching for education budget will find all bills with education and budget in the title, synopsis, primary sponsor (although unlikely) and document text.
Operators
Multiple keyword search allows you to input operators, and and or. If multiple keywords are entered without an operator, it assumes the AND operator.
To learn more about operators, see Advanced Features.
Phrases
Bill keyword search allows you to search for phrases. To search a phrase, wrap it in quotation marks. For example, use “Laws of Delaware” to find all bills that have the phrase "Laws of Delaware" in the searched areas above.
To learn more about phrases, see Advanced Features.
Search Results
After submitting your search, we have made it easy for you to find the appropriate bill among a potentially long list of results. The two main ways to find what you’re looking for are by sorting and refining the results.
Sorting
By default, legislation search results are sorted by the Legislation column, in descending order. You can click on any column title to sort the results by that column. The first click will sort the column in ascending order. A second click will sort the column in descending order. A third click will return the results back to their default state.
Refiners
Refiners give you the ability to drill into search results in six categories:
- Legislation in Chamber
- Legislation by Chamber
- Legislation Type
- Years (General Assembly)
- Introduction Date
- Sponsor
Legislation in Chamber
Refining the results by this method will show you legislation being considered by the selected chamber. You may only select one option.
Legislation by Chamber
When refining by this method, you will be presented with legislation that was introduced by the selected chamber. You may only select one option.
Legislation Type
Refining by legislation type will show you legislation of the selected type only. You can select multiple types of legislation.
Years (General Assembly)
Selecting a General Assembly to refine the results will show you legislation from those years. By default, the results show legislation from the current General Assembly. You have the option to show legislation from multiple General Assemblies.
Introduction Date Range
You can choose to see results from a certain date range. When entering dates into the “from” and “to” fields, will show legislation that was introduced between the desired date range. If just a “from” date is entered, the results will show all legislation that was introduced after that date. If only a “to” date is entered, then the results will be refined to legislation that was introduced before that date.
Refining the results by sponsor will show all legislation with the selected legislator as the primary sponsor. You can begin typing in the drop-down to filter the list of legislators or select one using the drop-down.
When selecting the “Include Co-Sponsors” option, the results will update to include all legislation with the selected legislator as either the primary sponsor or co-sponsor.