A Reminder to Keep the Pressure on to Read the Bill

Once again there is movement afoot for Congress to pass a measure that would require legislation to be online for 72 hours before debate begins. Minority Leader Boehner is urging Members to sign a discharge petition that would bring H. Res. 544, the “Read the Bill bill” Sunlight has long supported, to the House floor for a vote. Reps. Greg Walden (R-OR), John Culberson (R-TX) and Brian Baird (D-WA) originally filed the discharge petition in September.

Since then, there has been growing acceptance of the need to expose legislation to sunlight for 72 hours before voting on it, and Speaker Pelosi can be credited for slowing the process down on important pieces of legislation, including heath care and financial reform.

Still, voluntary assurances that bills will be online hardly give us reason to be confident that every piece of important legislation will be available for the public to read and respond to before debate begins. As the end of the Congress approaches there is an even greater risk that “must do” bills will be rushed to a vote. With that comes more opportunity for wasteful government spending, poorly thought out legislative provisions and hidden favors for influential lobbyists.

H. Res. 554 would help ensure that rushed bills become a thing of the past. A discharge petition may be the only way this bill comes to the floor for a vote, and if that is the case, we will gladly watch the bill become law. But a more thoughtful and deliberative method of getting a vote on this bill would be preferable. After all, one point of H. Res. 554 is to ensure there is time for legislation to be improved. It would be more than a little ironic if Read the Bill legislation could be made better after full consideration, including hearings and markup, in committee, but instead bypassed that process as a result of the discharge petition. Still, the discharge the petition serves a reminder that giving the public the opportunity to read the bill should be the norm, not the exception.

Financial Reform Bill Online for 72 Hours

You asked for it and you got it: the financial reform package, the most sweeping set of Wall Street reforms since the Great Depression was online for 72 hours before being voted on in the House of Representatives - eventually the Senate will take up the bill as well.

It's amazing to think how far we've come in such a short time - putting bills online for 72 hours before a vote is quickly becoming the norm in DC. It isn't because there's a law forcing them to do it - it's because they know all of you are watching their backs.

We can’t stop here – Read The Bill is part of the larger Public=Online campaign to make sure all public data is online and in real-time. Help us make sure that putting bills online for 72 hours before a vote isn’t just the norm – it’s the rule.

It's also important to note here that before the House voted on the bill, it was sent back to conference committee for a significant amendment. Sen. Scott Brown asked that a $19 billion tax on big banks be removed. Democrats, needing his support in the Senate, acquiesced and reopened the conference committee to make the change. The revenues from the tax were replaced with a combination of "redirecting Troubled Asset Relief Program bailout funds and raise[ing] premiums on…federal deposit insurance."

The well-publicized amended language was available for about 30 hours, per our research.

Conference committees are rare to begin with - reopening one is exceptional indeed. Should amending the conference committee report have reset the clock? Click here to tell us what you think.

Read The Health Care Bill

Editorial Board Memo: A Safety Valve for Health Care Reform: Post Final Legislative Language Online for 72 Hours

Debate over transparency in final health care negotiations has consumed the first weeks of 2010. Much has been made over whether Congress will make final changes to the House and Senate passed versions of the legislation through a conference committee, and subsequently, whether that committee's proceedings would be broadcast publicly via C-SPAN.

Whether or not the final deliberations around this important piece of legislation happen in front of C-SPAN cameras or not misses the mark. There is much Congress can do to improve transparency in its lawmaking, such as provide better access to legislative data, to committee and floor video, to voting records, ethics filings and earmark requests, and the Sunlight Foundation, among others, has called for these and many other changes.

But that is not the end of the matter when it comes to transparency; we should never allow Congress to pass legislation which has not been aired in the sunlight. After the House and Senate have ironed out the details of this health care legislation, a final opportunity for real transparency can be had by posting the full bill online for 72 hours prior to the final debate and vote.

If major amendments are added during the 72 hours that the bill is available to the public, then those amendments need to be made public on the Web for another 72 hours, too.

Think of this as a ‘safety valve’ – it is citizens' final opportunity to examine the changes to legislation, for lawmakers to look at the whole package and for everyone to raise questions and concerns about the bill while it can still have an impact. In 72 hours, any citizen, advocacy organization, analyst or media entity has time to review and assess the impact of the legislation, mobilize others in support or opposition, and/or take action in whatever form they see fit.

The 72 hour rule applied to the health care legislation—or any legislative measure—goes beyond transparency theater and delivers real accountability because it gives citizens ultimate oversight before a bill that impacts every American's life becomes a law.

Two Congressmen [a stalwart Democrat, Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) and a similarly stalwart Republican, John Culberson (R-TX)] have introduced H.Res. 554 which would create a 72 hour rule for all non-emergency legislation. Even without the rule-changing legislation being passed, however, we know that Congress can give the public 72 hours to review the health care legislation, in particular, because congressional leadership has already done so at other critical points in the debate.

There is no measure more important to debate in the open than health care, and this is a moment when we all need to be champions for public, online disclosure and engage with our government. With 72 hours, the buck can actually stop with citizens the way our Founders intended.

It is clear that fully updating our 18th century government rules for the 21st century and making legislation more transparent with the tools and technologies available to us is a process that will take time. No matter where you stand on the health debate, however, one thing is certain for today: Lawmakers and their constituents alike MUST have at least 72 hours to read and respond to the final legislation before it is debated.

Health Care Online for 72 Hours

Now it’s getting down to the wire and debate over the health care bill not only extends to what’s in the final package but how public the final negotiations are going to be. There’s even a public fight about legislative procedure – whether the bills will go to a formal conference committee, whether C-SPAN will be able to broadcast those hearings so the public can see the sausage being made.

But much of this discussion about transparency is partisan driven so it makes me grit my teeth (which my dentist tells me I really shouldn’t do). More importantly it misses the mark. There is much Congress can do to improve transparency in its lawmaking, such as providing better access to legislative data, to committee and floor video, to voting records, ethics filings, and earmark requests, and we and others have called for these and many other changes. A conference committee is hardly the be all and end all of Congressional transparency.

But that is not the end of the matter: we should never allow Congress to pass legislation which has not seen the light of day. After the House and Senate have ironed out the details of this health care legislation – or any bill – a final opportunity for real transparency can be had by posting the full bill online for 72 hours prior to the final debate and vote. (And if major amendments are added during the 72 hours that the bill is available to the public, then those amendments should be made public on the Web for another 72 hours, too.)

Think of posting something on line for 3 days as a ‘safety valve’ – a final chance for citizens, media, lawmakers and lobbyists alike to look at the whole package giving everyone one last opportunity to raise questions and concerns about the bill. If readers are in an advocacy mode they have time to mobilize others in support or opposition, and/or take action in whatever form they see fit.

There is no measure more important to debate in the open than health care, and this is a moment when we all need to be champions for public, online disclosure and engage with our government. With 72 hours, the buck can actually stop with citizens the way our Founders intended. We know that Congress do it because congressional leadership has already done so at other critical points in this debate.

This is what real transparency would look like.

Cokie Roberts Reviews 'Read The Bill'

Legislative Activity

Read The Bill Goes to The Hill

Why Read the Final Health Care Bill?

The Baucus health care bill was finally released in legislative language — finally. The bill has jumped from 262 pages in plain language to 1,502 page in legislative language.
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Read the Bill Act Stalled in Congress

Recently introduced House and Senate resolutions seek to illuminate the legislative process, giving Congress, as well as the American people, the opportunity to read legislation and formulate an informed opinion prior to any debate or votes.
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Editorial on NBC SF Bay Area

The Read The Bill photo campaign

Sunlight's Read the Bill campaign asks that Congress post all legislation online for at least 72 hours before it is considered. Currently, we are pushing for the passage of H. Res. 554 - which mandates these important rules changes.

Your support will help us ensure that advocates and active citizens like us have time to make our voices heard before Congress decides on the policies that ultimately affect our communities.

Add your photo today!

House Minority Leader John Boehner endorses idea of a 72 hour rule

Congress Should Take Its Time

You didn't have the time to read the 1100 page stimulus bill. And neither did members of Congress—by their own choice. Most lawmakers—on both sides of the aisle—were only given 13 hours to read the bill before it was passed.

Unfortunately, this is not an anomaly. Many members of Congress wish they had more time to Read the Bill.

ReadTheBill.org is a commonsense solution - we want Congress to post all bills online for 72 hours before they are debated. That gives members of Congress - and you - three days to read legislation and consider how it could potentially affect each of us in our daily lives. A 72 hour rule would also give you a chance to let your senators and representative in Congress know what you like, or don't like, about a bill before they vote.

If no one is taking the time to read these crucial pieces of legislation, then no one knows what's in them before they are passed.

Let's make sure Congress takes the time to Read the Bill. Sign our petition now.

ReadTheBill.org endorsed by Campbell Brown