One Subject at a Time Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 872 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 5, 2021 Mr. FULCHER (for himself, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. POSEY, Mrs. BOEBERT, Mr. ROY, and Mr. BROOKS) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 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 23:45 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 872 IH (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 of exist- 5 ing law provision, the subject of which is not germane to 6 the subject matter of each such appropriations bill pro- 7 vided however, that this section shall not be construed to 8 prohibit any provision imposing limitations upon the ex- 9 penditure 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, then 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, then only such provision or provisions 19 concerning the subject not clearly and descriptively ex- 20 pressed 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 23:45 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 872 IH priations of the House and of the Senate, and therefore 1 outside the subject of the bill, then such provision shall 2 be void. 3 (d) PROVISIONS OF APPROPRIATION BILLS NOT 4 GERMANE TO SUBJECT MATTER.—If an Act appro- 5 priating funds contains general legislation or change of ex- 6 isting law provision not germane to the subject matter of 7 such bill, then each and every such provision shall be void. 8 (e) COMMENCEMENT OF AN ACTION.—Any person 9 aggrieved by the enforcement of, or attempt or threat of 10 enforcement of, an Act passed without having complied 11 with section 2 or this section, or any Member of Congress 12 aggrieved by the failure of the House of Congress which 13 that individual is a member to comply with any require- 14 ment of those sections, shall, regardless of the amount in 15 controversy, have a cause of action under sections 2201 16 and 2202 of title 28, United States Code, against the 17 United States to seek appropriate relief, including an in- 18 junction against the enforcement of any law, the passage 19 of which did not conform to section 2 or this section. 20 (f) STATE OF REVIEW.—In any judicial action 21 brought pursuant to subsection (e), the standard of review 22 shall be de novo. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Feb 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H872.IH H872 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS