Suggestions for Reforming Our Lawmaking Process

Here's a quick stab at what a law reforming our lawmaking process might look like. I think many of us would like to see the injustices taken out of the lawmaking process.

In the name of reforming our lawmaking process, be it enacted that:

Article I

1. No rider shall be attached to a bill on a topic other than what the bill is about.

2. Should any member of the legislative body request a line-item vote, the bill will be broken down into parts as the legislator shall require, and a vote taken on each part.

Article II

1. Fillibusters will not be allowed. To ensure bills are not postponed by such political maneuvering, speakers shall be given time limits for each speech and for their responses to other speakers, say 15 minutes per bill being the limit for each speech, and 5 minutes a turn being the limit in responding to other speakers.

Article III

1. Bills will be introduced at the request of the legislator writing them, not needing to go through any committee before being introduced, nor needing approval from the leader of the legislative body. Bills will be introduced on the floor simply in the order they are filed.

2. The legislator can choose to hold off introducing a bill to allow it to go through a committee or through committees if he or she so desires. Those committees can recommend bills, but such recommendations shall have no binding force on the full legislative body.

3. A motion to close debate can be entertained as soon as the bill is presented, thus allowing the body to choose which bills are worthy of debate and/or discussion time.

Article IV

1. Bills shall not come to the floor except announced at least 24 hours in advance, with the the announcement including notice being posted on the Internet site hosted by the legislative body.

2. Matters of emergency, including declarations of war, shall not be subject to the above rule.

3. Whenever a bill has warranted discussion time on the floor, it shall not be voted on until 24 hours shall have passed after the close of that initial discussion, thus allowing legislators to review the bill before voting, and allowing the public to react to the legislation. The exception, again, will be for matters of emergency, including war.

Article V

1. The practice of having bills approved automatically, when they are not opposed, will end for bills that will result in laws. Resolutions (such as those honoring and recognizing people and organizations) that do not have binding power (are not laws) can be approved by voice vote.

2. Bills with binding power can be voted for electronically, allowing legislators to vote simultaneously without time-consuming roll call votes.

Article VI

1. Lawmakers will be encouraged, though not required, to write their own bills.

Article VII

1. In filing their bills, lawmakers shall disclose the names of organizations that have requested or encouraged the legislation.

2.  If there was a petition requesting the legislation, it can included in the disclosure of those supporting the bill.

3. There shall be no punishment for not disclosing backers of a bill, but the legislator will be open to public criticism should it be brought to light that a significant influence was omitted in filing the disclosure.

Article VIII

1. Meetings of both the full body and committees and political divisions of the body shall be open to the public, with the exception being those where the discussion would jeopardize security of the state.

2. All meetings shall be video and audio recorded, with those not closed being posted on the Internet.

3. A court shall have access to the recordings of closed meetings. When the court finds meetings should not have been closed, the recordings of those meetings will be posted on the Internet.