Sponsors
This bill improves legislative transparency and equal treatment by enforcing single-subject titles and limiting carve-outs for Members, but that clarity may slow lawmaking, invite procedural workarounds, and create legal/administrative uncertainty and operational complications.
Voters and lawmakers: each bill must state a single subject in its title, making legislation easier for the public and legislators to read and understand.
Taxpayers and voters: reduces logrolling and multi-issue riders, making legislative intent more transparent and decreasing hidden tradeoffs in laws.
Taxpayers and the public: promotes equal application of laws by preventing special carve-outs that would exempt Members of Congress or their staff from statutory requirements.
Taxpayers and the public: could slow or delay passage of complex policy because single-subject rules may force policymakers to split reforms across many separate bills.
State governments, lawmakers, and the public: may encourage procedural gaming—e.g., long sequences of related one-subject bills or use of alternative omnibus vehicles—reducing legislative efficiency and potentially undermining transparency.
Federal employees and taxpayers: may create legal uncertainty or litigation over what counts as "lawmaking-related duties," raising administrative costs for Congress and implementing agencies.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires measures sent to the President to have only one subject with a clear title and bars laws from exempting Members of Congress or their staff, with limited carve-outs for official duties.
Introduced January 3, 2025 by Brian K. Fitzpatrick · Last progress January 3, 2025
Requires every bill, resolution, order, or vote sent by Congress to the President to address no more than one subject and to state that single subject clearly in the title, beginning with the 119th Congress. Also bars future laws from including exceptions that exempt Members of Congress or their staff from the law, while allowing necessary rules that let Members and staff perform official lawmaking duties (including access to Capitol facilities).