Federal Steps of Publication
Back in the day, before the Internet, the people were advised about the creation and amendment of laws by their government through paper publications. However, it takes an extraordinary amount of time for a law to be published after its enactment. As such, there are three steps to the official publication of a law.
Remember - It’s the SAME LAW. It's language has not changed.
New York Publication Process
Session Laws: These are also called "chapter laws," and they are published in the volumes entitled “The Laws of New York.” Every law ever enacted by the New York Legislature is published in the Laws of New York chronologically in order of the date of its passage. These can be found online on the New York State Senate website.
The citation for a New York chapter law looks like this:
L. 2006, c. 677 (2006). The "L." stands for "Laws of New York;" "2006" stands for the year of the legislative session, "c." stands for chapter number; "677" designates the consecutive number of passage (this was the 677th law passed that session); and 2006 indicates the year of passage.
Authority
All statutes are primary sources of law however they are not all Authoritative sources.
Legislative Process
For information about how a bill becomes a law see the diagram below or follow the following links for more information.