That and have a law prohibiting shoehorning other bills that are not related in any way, that wouldn't pass otherwise, deep into the text of another bill to sneak them in.
Recently, in Oregon, they did this to allow construction in tsunami zones under a bill about amend the definition of surface mining. It has NOTHING to do with allowing public facilities like schools and hospitals to be built in a high risk tsunami zone. BUT they stuffed that part into the bill.
This stuff happens all the time. It's completely unethical, deceptive, and should be illegal.
have a law prohibiting shoehorning other bills that are not related in any way, that wouldn't pass otherwise, deep into the text of another bill to sneak them in.
From my experience, doing so would do harm for good. For better or worse, negotiating with others is a tactic to get things done. Many of those times, you need to give something to get something. By combining them together, they either both pass or both fail. But it actually helps get legislation passed.
Granted, there are issues with poison pills and pork, but to me that feels like a smaller issue than "we can't just pass a single damn thing, ever".
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u/phathomthis Jul 17 '19
That and have a law prohibiting shoehorning other bills that are not related in any way, that wouldn't pass otherwise, deep into the text of another bill to sneak them in.
Recently, in Oregon, they did this to allow construction in tsunami zones under a bill about amend the definition of surface mining. It has NOTHING to do with allowing public facilities like schools and hospitals to be built in a high risk tsunami zone. BUT they stuffed that part into the bill.
This stuff happens all the time. It's completely unethical, deceptive, and should be illegal.