One Bill, One Subject Transparency Act
Latest action · Jan 3, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJan 3, 2025
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
One Bill, One Subject Transparency Act
This bill prohibits any bill or joint resolution from addressing more than one subject and establishes related enforcement mechanisms.
The bill requires bills and joint resolutions to address only one subject, which must be clearly and descriptively expressed in the bill or joint resolution's title. Appropriations bills may only contain provisions that are germane to the subject matter of the underlying bill. However, appropriations bills may limit the expenditure of appropriated funds.
The bill voids
- any act (i.e., law) or joint resolution with a title that addresses two or more unrelated subjects;
- any provision of an act or joint resolution concerning a subject that is not clearly and descriptively expressed in the title;
- any provision of an appropriations act that contains general legislation or change of existing law provision not germane to the subject matter of the underlying bill;
- any provision of an appropriations act that addresses a subject outside of the jurisdiction of the relevant subcommittee of the Committees on Appropriations of the House and of the Senate.
The bill also authorizes any person aggrieved by the enforcement or threat of enforcement of an act enacted after this bill that does not comply with the requirements of this bill to sue the United States.
Cosponsors
Members who signed on, in the order they did.
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Jan 3, 2025 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 3, 2025Introduced in House
- Jan 3, 2025Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H656 | Jamie Raskin D-MD | Feb 12, 2025 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 171, no. 1, January 3, 2025, page H39.
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To require that each bill enacted by Congress be limited to only one subject, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- One Bill, One Subject Transparency Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Congress.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jan 3, 2025Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
