Single subject amendment

The single subject amendment is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution that would impose the single-subject rule on federal legislation, limiting the content of bills introduced in Congress to a single subject. The amendment would have the effect of limiting legislative tactics such as logrolling, earmarks, and pork barrel spending.[1] It would also discourage the use of very long omnibus spending bills which are difficult for legislators to read and analyze in the time frame needed for a vote, and to which unrelated riders are often added late in the legislative process.[2] As of 2016, 41 states have single-subject rules in their state constitutions, but the federal Congress has no such rule.[1] Many of these state and local provisions are over a century old, and litigation is often used to enforce the provisions.[3]

The amendment is promoted by a 527 SuperPAC also called Single Subject Amendment, which is seeking passage of the amendment through either the Congressional route or through calling a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution.[1] A federal amendment was proposed as early as 1999 in a law journal article by Brannon Denning and Brooks R. Smith.[2] The Florida Legislature in 2014 passed a memorial applying to Congress to call a convention for this purpose.[4] A bill was introduced in the 113th Congress, and again in the 114th Congress, to propose the amendment by Congressman Tom Marino.[1] This bill has also been introduced by Congressman Marino in the 115th Congress as H.J.Res. 25. The rule has also been proposed as a law, the One Subject At a Time Act, by Representative Mia Love, which would allow courts to strike down legislation that did not fulfill the rule.[2][5]