# Single subject amendment

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{{short description|Proposed amendment to the United States Constitution}}
The '''single subject amendment''' is a [proposed amendment to the United States Constitution](/source/List_of_proposed_amendments_to_the_United_States_Constitution) that would impose the [single-subject rule](/source/single-subject_rule) on federal legislation, limiting the content of bills introduced in [Congress](/source/United_States_Congress) to a single subject.  The amendment would have the effect of limiting legislative tactics such as [logrolling](/source/logrolling), [earmarks](/source/Earmark_(politics)), and [pork barrel](/source/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](/source/Congressional_Research_Service)|page=9|access-date=2016-07-29}}</ref>  It would also discourage the use of very long [omnibus spending bill](/source/omnibus_spending_bill)s which are difficult for legislators to read and analyze in the time frame needed for a vote, and to which unrelated [riders](/source/Rider_(legislation)) 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](/source/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](/source/Washington_Examiner)|access-date=2016-07-29}}</ref>

The amendment is promoted by a [527](/source/527_organization) [SuperPAC](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/113th_United_States_Congress), and again in the 114th Congress, to propose the amendment by Congressman [Tom Marino](/source/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](/source/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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Single subject amendment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_subject_amendment) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_subject_amendment?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.