By Nathaniel Bodnar ’21
Staff Writer
The current Coronavirus Stimulus Bill highlights one of the biggest problems with our current democracy. Bills have no singular focus and, as a result, they often have many provisions that have little to do with each other. The economic impacts of coronavirus are very wide and, as a result, almost any industry can claim they have been affected. The end result is that the Coronavirus Stimulus Bill has many different measures, some bad and some good, but it is hard to debate the merits of individual issues without bringing down and stalling the bill as a whole, which would delay the parts of the bill everyone agrees on from going into effect.
I propose that there should be a constitutional amendment to only allow one specific issue to be addressed in a bill. For example, instead of the current broad Coronavirus Stimulus Bill, there would be separate bills to give direct cash to Americans, increase unemployment benefits, to give money to hospitals, and to provide funding for fine arts. All of these issues deserve to be addressed, but having them all addressed together does each of them an injustice.
Both political parties have used our country’s current situation as an excuse to try to push through partisan agendas and nonessential issues. Both parties at some point have attempted to have abortion language added to the bill (not to mention that at the state level both parties have used coronavirus as an excuse to restrict constitutionally protected rights, such as abortion and gun rights). In the current stimulus plan, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is given $25 million and the National Endowment for the Arts is given $75 million. My point here is not to say that these things should never be funded, but I think they are not a top priority at this time, and that they should be considered on their own merits at a later date.
If we were to focus on one issue at a time, we could reduce waste and the role of special interests. In almost every bill there are provisions that could never pass if they were considered on their own. A common practice in the US legislative branch is “pork-barreling,” in which members of Congress secure money that primarily benefits their district or state by adding provisions to a bill that are not related to the purpose of the bill. For example, in the current Coronavirus Stimulus Bill, there is language to ensure that the FDA speeds up the process of approving new ingredients for sunscreen. This would benefit Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s home state of Kentucky, as it has a L’Oreal manufacturing facility (L’Oreal makes sunscreen that would benefit from this provision). If bills were specific, these types of measures wouldn’t pass as often because the legislature would be able to adequately review the issue. Currently, they are unable to do so because it often makes no sense to hold up a bill with hundreds or thousands of pages over a tiny section they may disagree with. While that is true, these tiny parts can add up over time and can contribute to billions of dollars in wasted spending.
Making bills deal with only one specific issue would allow Congress to get more done. Congress could quickly pass the bills they all agree on, instead of our current system where the things they agree on are held hostage as Congress tries to negotiate other parts of a long bill. There still would be contentious debates on many issues, but the things agreed upon could quickly be passed. This would help reduce the partisan gridlock in DC that is hurting our nation. Partisan gridlock is especially harmful in times like these, where an emergency necessitates a quick response. Under our current system, Congress can’t get anything done in a timely manner.
I believe that my proposal would at least allow some things to get done before partisan gridlock jams the system. It would also reduce the role of highly specialized interests in our laws and cut waste. This proposal will allow Congress to work more efficiently and work in a manner that is more in line with the interests of Americans.
