{{short description|Proposed amendment to the United States Constitution}} 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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44435.pdf|title=The Article V Convention to Propose Constitutional Amendments: Current Developments|last=Neale|first=Thomas H.|date=2016-03-29|publisher=Congressional Research Service|page=9|access-date=2016-07-29}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/02/01/mia-love-single-subject-rule-constitutional-amendment--reynolds-column/79605158/|title=Want to know why voters are so mad? Mia Love has the answer|last=Reynolds|first=Glenn Harlan| author-link = Glenn Reynolds|date=2016-02-01|website=USA Today|access-date=2016-07-29}}</ref> As of 2016, 41 states have single-subject rules in their state constitutions, but the federal Congress has no such rule.<ref name=":0" /> Many of these state and local provisions are over a century old, and litigation is often used to enforce the provisions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/how-about-a-federal-single-subject-rule/article/2555099|title=How about a federal single subject rule?|last=Joshpe|first=Brett|date=2014-10-24|website=Washington Examiner|access-date=2016-07-29}}</ref>
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.<ref name=":0" /> A federal amendment was proposed as early as 1999 in a law journal article by Brannon Denning and Brooks R. Smith.<ref name=":1" /> The Florida Legislature in 2014 passed a memorial applying to Congress to call a convention for this purpose.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lakerlutznews.com/lln/?p=18440|title=Florida first state to demand a single-subject Constitutional convention|last=Hinman|first=Machael|date=2014-05-01|website=The Laker/Lutz News|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-29}}</ref> A bill was introduced in the 113th Congress, and again in the 114th Congress, to propose the amendment by Congressman Tom Marino.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeleef/2016/01/29/could-a-single-subject-amendment-put-an-end-to-christmas-tree-bills/|title=Crimp Wasteful Federal Spending With This Constitutional Amendment|last=Leef|first=George| author-link = George Leef|date=2016-01-29|website=Forbes|access-date=2016-07-29}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Constitution of the United States}} {{authority control}} Category:Proposed amendments to the United States Constitution