Last September, we published a blog post exploring the ins and outs of the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark bill signed by President Biden on August 16, 2022. While it was a far cry from Biden’s original legislation, called the Build Back Better plan, due to negotiations demanded by Republicans and moderate Democrats, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is still a significant piece of legislation that invests in combatting climate change, reducing pharmaceutical prices, taxing corporations, and more. In our September 2023 content release, we added the legislative history for this act, also known as Public Law No. 117-169, to our U.S. Federal Legislative History Library. In this post, we’ll take a look at what’s included in the legislative history of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and demonstrate how you can easily locate a legislative history in HeinOnline.
About the IRA Legislative History
Inflation Reduction Act of 2022: A Legislative History of Public Law No. 117-169 was published right here at William S. Hein & Co., Inc., and, like many of the legislative histories in HeinOnline, it was compiled and edited by William H. Manz, former Senior Research Librarian at St. John’s University School of Law. Within the Table of Contents, you’ll find that the legislative history includes:
- An introduction
- A legislative chronology
- A table of documents
- The law itself
- Bill versions
- Related bills
- Presidential remarks
- Congressional Record
- Related hearings
- Congressional Research Service reports
- Congressional Budget Office reports
The legislative chronology then lists out the journey this act took, from its first iteration as a bill introduced as the Build Back Better act by former Kentucky Representative John Yarmuth on September 27, 2021, to the signed public law on August 16, 2022.
The cumulative contents of this legislative history span seven parts, each of which can be expanded to find your desired section. You can also search keywords within the title, just as you normally would within HeinOnline:
Finding a Legislative History in HeinOnline
Find the legislative history you’re looking with just a few clicks in HeinOnline! In our Tip of the Week video, we show you how to do it step by step:
If you learn more by reading, go ahead and check out our corresponding blog post:
Explore More with the U.S. Federal Legislative History Library
HeinOnline’s U.S. Federal Legislative History Library is the richest collection of compiled federal legislative histories available containing more than 2,700 titles from a variety of resources, including the Government Printing Office, Arnold and Porter, Covington and Burling, Kirkland and Ellis, and more. William S. Hein & Co., Inc. also has contracted with legal experts to compile and publish legislative histories on major public laws in-house.
These compilations are composed of the text of the final public law, House and Senate bill variations, Congressional hearings, House and Senate reports, and more. Research legislative intent behind major public laws and follow the progression of a bill from its introduction to its passage. Gain insight and clarification into ambiguous statutory language with this valuable tool. All titles are indexed to the document level and are fully searchable. In addition to legislative history content, this library includes the database version of the award-winning Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories: A Bibliography of Government Documents, Periodical Articles, and Books.
Database Tools and Features
Legislative History Locator Tools
Easily locate a legislative history by its publication title, public law number, or popular name.
Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories
Easily determine whether a legislative history of a public law has been compiled or locate related documents, books, or scholarly articles.
Advanced Search Options
The Advanced Search option allows users to search by text, title, description, creator/author, and/or date.
The U.S. Federal Legislative History Library is included within many of HeinOnline’s U.S. and international Core packages.
