State of South Dakota  


Introduced by:    Representatives Hansen (Jon), Cronin, Dennert, Fargen, Feickert, Feinstein, Gosch, Hunhoff (Bernie), Iron Cloud III, Killer, Kirschman, Lucas, Moser, Rausch, Schrempp, Sigdestad, Street, Tornow, Wick, and Willadsen and Senators Frerichs, Hansen (Tom), Haverly, Hundstad, Krebs, Lederman, Maher, Nelson (Tom), Novstrup (Al), Peters, Rampelberg, Rhoden, and Sutton

        A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Urging Congress to adopt a proposed constitutional amendment limiting federal legislation to a single subject.
    WHEREAS, the United States of America, in two hundred thirty-five years since her founding, and two hundred twenty-three years since the ratification of her Constitution, has become a great nation; and
    WHEREAS, to reach agreement amidst diversity, we must discover those ideas which unite us; and
    WHEREAS, to find what unites us, we cannot be distracted by what divides us and must be permitted to agree on some things, while respectfully disagreeing on others; and
    WHEREAS, if we must agree on everything to do anything, we will achieve nothing; and
    WHEREAS, federal legislation has become increasingly complex, lengthy, and filled with such disparate items, that the meaning and effects of proposed laws are difficult to discern, detect, and discuss; and
    WHEREAS, forty-three states have provisions in their constitutions that limit the scope of legislation to one subject per bill; and
    WHEREAS, while one-subject provisions have not resolved all differences and are not perfect, they have made legislation more easily understood and more transparent; and
    WHEREAS,  these one-subject provisions have focused discussion and allowed legislators from across the United States of America to unite when they agree, without being divided by their differences; and
    WHEREAS, while no one amendment or action will completely unite us or overcome all our nation's challenges, all great achievements are begun with one step for America; and
    WHEREAS, our founders understood that no one thing solves everything, and so strove not for a perfect union but a more perfect union:
    NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Eighty-seventh Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the Congress of the United States of America be urged to adopt a proposed constitutional amendment stating: "No law shall embrace more than one subject, which shall be expressed in its title."