Legislative Tool: Table of Citations

The Indiana General Assembly produces a number of documents that facilitate keeping track of legislative developments. One of them is the “Table of Citations” or “Citations Affected Report” – the one for 2015 is here. It’s a dynamic document that’s updated as the session progresses.

The document provides a list of citations affected by pending legislation – from noncode to Title 1 and all the way through Title 36 of the Indiana Code. For each citation it tells you the number and section of the bill that would affect it, whether the bill would create a new citation or amend it, the proposed effective date of the change, and the last action for the proposed change. One of its primary uses is to help LSA keep track of when multiple bills are going to amend or create the same section or chapter and take steps to make sure some accommodation is made when there is a conflict.

But, if you’re a lobbyist or an observer of the General Assembly with particular areas of concerns, it can help you keep track of legislation in your area. It’s not perfect, but as a general rule, your concerns are going to be grouped in particular areas of the Indiana Code. For example, my personal interests tend to be on civil litigation and local government. That means my hot spots are probably going to be Titles 5, 33, 34, and 36. Additionally, there is a ton of garbage filed that’s never going to see the light of day. I enjoy highlighting those items on my blog, but if you’re really concerned about what will become public policy, your real concern will be the bills that are actually moving. So, if I go through the citations affected report and identify those bills in Titles 5, 33, 34, and 36 that are on something other than first reading, I now have a better idea of which legislation to keep my eye on.