8/16/18 DS; U:\Library\Nursing Materials\MSN603\Citing a bill.docx
Citing a Bill in APA
http://www.alverno.edu/media/alvernocollege/library/pdfs/bill.pdf
Citing a Federal Bill
Follow these directions for citing a federal bill that has been introduced in the United States Congress
but not enacted into law. Include the name of the bill (if relevant), the abbreviated name of the house
(H.R. or S.) and number of the bill, the number of the Congress, and the year of publication.
Example for a House of Representatives bill introduced in the 115th Congress:
ZZZ's to A's Act, H.R. 2245, 115th Cong. (2017).
Citing a State Bill
Unfortunately, citing state bills can be tricky due to varying numbering systems and differences in
governmental bodies among individual states.
Follow these directions for citing a state bill that has been introduced in the Wisconsin State Legislature
but not enacted into law. Include the number of the bill (use A.B. for an Assembly bill or S.B. for a Senate
bill), number of the legislative body, number or designation of the legislative session (using appropriate
abbreviation if applicable), state abbreviation and year of publication.
Example of an Assembly bill introduced in the Wisconsin State Legislature 2017 Biennium:
A.B. 582, 2017 Biennium, 2017 Reg. Sess. (Wis. 2017).
The BlueBook
provides more information on how to cite legislative documents and
includes tables
with
appropriate abbreviations.
Name of the
bill
(Year of
publication)
Number of
the Congress
Number of
the bill
Number of
the bill
Number of
legislative body
Number of
session
(State and
year)
