Rand Paul Introduces "One Subject at a Time Act"

Bill Makes Legislation More Transparent

AKRON, Ohio, Nov. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "It's been a long time since Congress needed a majority to pass a law," says Jim Babka, President of DownsizeDC.org, Inc. "But that could change, thanks to Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has introduced our 'One Subject at a Time Act' (OSTA) in the Senate."

"OSTA is a transparency bill, that would require each bill Congress passes to be about one subject only," Babka explains. "This would end the practice of clustering unrelated measures into one package. Congressional leaders have long used this trick to pass unpopular laws on the strength of the popular proposals with which they're unnaturally joined. OSTA would end this fraud forever."

"Every bill would have to stand or fall on its own merits," declares Babka.

By introducing OSTA (S. 1664), Senator Paul fulfills a campaign promise. During a 2012 policy debate, Senator Paul noted, "No wonder our approval rating is 10 percent. Nobody knows what we're voting on. In fact, things have been stuck in this bill last night that have nothing to do with any of these bills and we're just now discovering it."

"But multi-subject bills are an old bipartisan problem. DownsizeDC.org created OSTA in response to numerous omnibus bills passed when the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress. For instance, the massively unpopular Real ID Act was only passed because the Republican leadership included it in an Emergency Troop Appropriation bill. That bill also included tsunami relief! The ban on Internet poker was included in a Port Security bill," says Babka.

OSTA was introduced in the House (H.R. 2113), back in May, by Representative Tom Marino (R-PA). It has two co-sponsors.

Babka commends Senator Paul for keeping his word. "It's a rare politician that honors his promises. Now we can begin to collect Senate co-sponsors for this vital reform."

DownsizeDC.org offers a free tool for constituents to deliver letters directly to their Representative and two Senators. Here's the link: https://secure.downsizedc.org/etp/one-subject/

SOURCE DownsizeDC.org

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