Read the Bills Act

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Rand Paul
U.S. Senator from Kentucky
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The Read the Bills Act (RTBA) is proposed legislation intended to require the United States Congress to read the legislation that it passes. It was originally written in 2006[1] by Downsize DC, a non-profit organization focused on decreasing the size of the federal government. The proposed act is a response to the passing of bills that are thousands of pages long and are passed without copies being made available to the members of Congress who vote on the bill. The bill is aimed at limiting the size and growth of the federal government.

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) stated his support for it in November 2010.[2] Paul went on to sponsor and propose the bill in the 112th congress as S.3360 on June 28, 2012.

Congress Short title Bill number(s) Date introduced Sponsor(s) # of cosponsors Latest status
112th Congress Read the Bills Act S. 3360 June 28, 2012 Rand Paul

(R-KY)

0 Died in committee
113th Congress H.R. 1831 May 6, 2013 Kerry Bentivolio

(R-MI)

1 Died in committee
S. 1665 November 7, 2013 Rand Paul

(R-KY)

0 Died in committee
114th Congress S. 1571 June 15, 2015 Rand Paul

(R-KY)

0 Died in committee
115th Congress S. 3709 December 5, 2018 Rand Paul

(R-KY)

0 Died in committee
116th Congress S. 3879 June 3, 2020 Rand Paul

(R-KY)

0 Died in committee
117th Congress S. 103 January 28, 2021 Rand Paul

(R-KY)

0 Referred to committee

Similarly, a separate bill nicknamed the "Read the Bill Act" would require bills to be posted publicly 72 hours prior to consideration in Congress. Unlike the Downsize DC proposal, this bill is supported by ReadTheBill.org (part of the Sunlight Foundation) with the primary aim to increase transparency in government.[3] It was introduced in the U.S. House (by Brian Baird in 2006 H.Res. 688, 2007 H.Res. 504, and 2009 H.Res. 554) and Senate (by Jim Bunning in 2009 S.Res. 307, and by John Ensign in 2011 S.Res. 16). The Senate version differs in a few ways, including a requirement to have the Congressional Budget Office provide an evaluation of the proposed legislation.[4]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "RTBA Full Text". Downsize DC. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  2. ^ "The Grand New—and Old—Party". Wall Street Journal. November 6, 2010.
  3. ^ "Read The Bill: About Read The Bill". ReadTheBill.org. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
  4. ^ "Read the Bill Act Stalled in Congress". OMB Watch. October 14, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2011.

External links[]

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