slip laws

Slip laws are the first published version of individual statutes that have been passed by Congress. They can be either public law or private law and are published by the Office of the Federal Register. An example of the format of a slip law is the Wetlands Conservation and Access Improvement Act of 2025, (Pub. L. No. 119–40, 139 Stat. 662).

According to the Library of Congress, slip laws can provide information on:

  • whether it is a public or private law (the example above is a public law; Pub. L., PLAW, or P.L.)
    • private law is cited as Pvt.L.
  • the Congress number (example above, this law was enacted by the 119th session of Congress)
  • the bill number (this is the 40th law of the 119th Congress)
  • the date the bill was enacted (the 119th Congress was active during 2025-2026)
  • the volume number (Stat.), and the page number (this first version is located in volume 139 of the Statutes at Large, on page 662)
  • editorial notes that may provide citations and U.S. Code classifications in the margins, and
  • the legislative history of the bill.

For more information, see the CRS report: From Slip Law to United States Code: A Guide to Federal Statutes for Congressional Offices, and How our Laws are Made by John V. Sullivan, Parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives.

[Last reviewed in April of 2026 by the Wex Definitions Team] 

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