One Subject at a Time Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 110 To end the practice of including more than one subject in a single bill by requiring that each bill enacted by Congress be limited to only one subject, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 28, 2021 Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration A BILL To end the practice of including more than one subject in a single bill by requiring that each bill enacted by Congress be limited to only one subject, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘One Subject at a Time 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ONE SUBJECT AT A TIME. 6 (a) ONE SUBJECT.—Each bill or joint resolution 7 shall embrace no more than one subject. 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:30 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S110.IS S110 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 110 IS (b) SUBJECT IN TITLE.—The subject of a bill or joint 1 resolution shall be clearly and descriptively expressed in 2 the title. 3 (c) APPROPRIATION BILLS.—An appropriations bill 4 shall not contain any general legislation or change to a 5 provision of existing law, the subject of which is not ger- 6 mane to the subject matter of each such appropriations 7 bill; provided, however, that this section shall not be con- 8 strued to prohibit any provision imposing limitations upon 9 the expenditure of funds so appropriated. 10 SEC. 3. ENFORCEMENT. 11 (a) MULTIPLE SUBJECTS IN TITLE.—If the title of 12 an Act or joint resolution addresses two or more unrelated 13 subjects, the entire Act or joint resolution is void. 14 (b) PROVISIONS NOT EXPRESSED IN TITLE.—If the 15 title of an Act or joint resolution addresses a single sub- 16 ject, but the Act contains one or more provisions con- 17 cerning a subject that is not clearly and descriptively ex- 18 pressed in its title, only such provision or provisions con- 19 cerning the subject not clearly and descriptively expressed 20 in the title shall be void. 21 (c) APPROPRIATION PROVISIONS OUTSIDE SUB- 22 COMMITTEE JURISDICTION.—If an Act appropriating 23 funds contains a provision outside of the jurisdiction of 24 the relevant subcommittee of the Committees on Appro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:30 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S110.IS S110 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 110 IS priations of the House of Representatives and of the Sen- 1 ate, and therefore outside the subject of the bill, such pro- 2 vision shall be void. 3 (d) PROVISIONS OF APPROPRIATION BILLS NOT 4 GERMANE TO SUBJECT MATTER.—If an Act appro- 5 priating funds contains a provision of general legislation 6 or a change of a provision of existing law not germane 7 to the subject matter of such bill, such provision shall be 8 void. 9 (e) COMMENCEMENT OF AN ACTION.—Any person 10 aggrieved by the enforcement of, or attempt or threat of 11 enforcement of, an Act passed without having complied 12 with section 2 or this section, or any Member of Congress 13 aggrieved by the failure of the House of Congress of which 14 that individual is a member to comply with any require- 15 ment of those sections, shall, regardless of the amount in 16 controversy, have a cause of action under sections 2201 17 and 2202 of title 28, United States Code, against the 18 United States to seek appropriate relief, including an in- 19 junction against the enforcement of any law, the passage 20 of which did not conform to section 2 or this section. 21 (f) STATE OF REVIEW.—In any judicial action 22 brought pursuant to subsection (e), the standard of review 23 shall be de novo. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:30 Feb 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S110.IS S110 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS