Mia Love to Congress: Keep it simple, one bill does not need many topics
Aug 2, 2021, 5:42 PM
FILE: Roadwork like pothole repair would be covered under the $1 trillion infrastructure bill -- but critics say it's what else is in the bill that has nothing to do with infrastructure that's problematic. (Photo: KSL TV)
(Photo: KSL TV)
SALT LAKE CITY — You are a legislator in the nation’s capital and you want to vote for the be-kind-to-puppies bill but the money for it goes multiple, completely different topics.
It’s time Congress sticks to one bill, with one and only one topic, says a former Utah congresswoman.
Senators on Monday began voting on amendments to the $1 trillion infrastructure investment bill, which is 2,702 pages.
But as is so often the case in Washington, D.C., Congress loves cobbling together various types of legislation into one giant omnibus spending bill. Often this type of bill will bear one name, while packing in funding for a variety of unrelated topics.
No more multiple topics per bill
Former Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, joined Inside Sources host Boyd Matheson to discuss why she believes lawmakers need to stay on topic.
She vented her frustration on the dysfunctional way Congress passes legislation: every bill could conceivably address many topics.
“The great big bills had things that you had to vote for because you promised your constituents you would always vote for, but it was connected to things that you promised your constituency would never vote for,” she said.
She added the massive federal spending bills end up adding to the existing national debt of $26.70 trillion.
Accountability key under Love’s proposal
Love said while in Congress in 2016 she introduced a bill that would end the multiple topics problem, limiting all other bills to one subject.
“And that one subject has to clearly be stated in the title. So people can be held accountable . . . everything they vote for and against,” she said.
“But I also know that you took that proposal — really it’s a page out of the Utah Constitution that requires that very thing,” Boyd noted.
Related: Too much spending or bipartisan victory? Utah senators talk infrastructure bill
She said under her proposal, Congress would have to work more to pass more bills, but members would not have to read through any 2,700 page bills anymore.
Love said her proposal also was about returning accountability to members of Congress.
With the infrastructure bill, she said Congress not only has to figure out a way to pay for it but also find an ongoing revenue source.
“Roads will continue to get potholes, continue to disintegrate, and they will continue to fail,” Love said. “And you have to have a source of revenue that will continue to sustain this. And Washington is not very good at looking into the future.”
Listen to Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson weekdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app.
