Add:
1. All bills must be restricted to the subject of the bill, I.E. no amendments that do not specifically “fit” with the bills “subject matter”.
2. All bills concerning financing of a “department, (Defense, HHS etc.), must be passed before the end of the fiscal year or the funding will end as of the end of the fiscal year. No extensions of funding is allowed.
3. Funding bills must only be for the department concerned. No omnibus bills allowed for funding the government.
4. All Executive Departments must be renewed every 10 years or are eliminated.
5. All statutes must be renewed every 10 years or are rescinded automatically.
6. All agency rules must be voted on by the congress before they can become enforceable.
yeah, I’ve thought of 5/6 of those. I just didn’t want to make my post too long.
I would add that I think all bills should be read twice.
Once before debate, then once after amendments and other changes, just before the vote. (And they must be sitting in their seats listening to it all.)
As far as laws expiring, I think that laws need a published goal. Kind of like a mission statement. After 2 years, the law is evaluated. Is it costing too much? Is it meeting it’s goal? Is it still needed at all? etc.
If allowed to continue, reviewed again in 5 years, then again every 5 years. The first order of business each quarter is to review past laws do to expire.