APA Citation Style, 7th Edition: Legislative (US & State House & Senate) Bills

Tips on citing APA 7th edition references for Legislative Bills or Laws (p. 356-365): 

• APA uses the standard legal style of citing legal references across all disciplines. The most commonly used style is from The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. 
• Is it a bill or is it a law? If a bill or a resolution (whether state legistation or U.S. legislation) it it cited as a BILL or RESOLUTION as shown the examples on this page. IF the bill or resolution has passed into LAW, it should be cited as a LAW or ACT, or may also be called a STATUTE. If it's a law, follow those examples on this page. You can also consult Chapter 11, section 11.5 and section 11.6 of the APA manual.  
• Common Legal Reference Abbreviations: 
  • Congress  -- Cong. , House of Representatives  -- H.R. , Senate -- S. 
  • Regulation -- Reg. ,   Resolution --  Res. 
  • Section --  § , Sections --  §§ , Number -- No. 
• In text Citations: 
  • Parenthetical citation: (Name of Act, year).
  • Narrative citation: Name of Act (year)... 

Examples:

Reference Example 1:

NC Compassionate Care Act, Senate Bill 3, 2023-2024 Session, (2023). https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2023/S3 

In-text Citation (Paraphrase):

(NC Compassionate Care Act, 2023). 

In-text Citation (Direct Quote):

(NC Compassionate Care Act, 2023, p. 4).

Reference Example 2:

The SAVE Act, S. bill DRS55014-NBf-50A GA of North Carolina, (2021). https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S249v0.pdf 

In-text Citation (Paraphrase):

(The SAVE Act, 2021). 

In-text Citation (Direct Quote):

(The Save ACT, 2021, p. 6).

Additional resources for learning how to properly reference legal references in APA 7th edition: 

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If you are citing a report, issue brief, or any other type of document issued with a number, include the type of document and number of publication in parenthesis directly after the title.

Example from page 329 of APA Manual: National Cancer Institute. (2018). Facing forward: Life after cancer treatment [NIH Publication No. 18-2424]. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://tinyurl.com/bdd2krk5

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