Legal Definitions - one-subject rule

One-Subject Rule

The one-subject rule is a fundamental legal principle stating that a legislative act, or statute, must focus on a single, clearly identifiable topic. Furthermore, the title of the statute must accurately and transparently reflect that specific subject. The primary purpose of this rule is to prevent legislators from combining unrelated issues into a single bill, which could obscure unpopular provisions, force votes on multiple disparate matters at once (a practice known as "logrolling"), or confuse the public and other lawmakers about the precise scope and intent of a proposed law.

• Example 1: Imagine a state legislature proposes a bill titled "An Act to Enhance Public School Funding and Teacher Compensation." For this bill to comply with the one-subject rule, its contents should be limited to provisions directly related to school funding (e.g., allocating state budget surpluses to education, adjusting property tax contributions for schools) and teacher pay (e.g., establishing minimum salary increases, creating performance bonuses). It would violate the rule if it also included, for instance, a provision establishing new regulations for commercial fishing licenses or changing the state's election campaign finance laws, as these are entirely separate topics not covered by the title or the primary subject of education.

• Example 2: Consider a city council passing an ordinance titled "An Ordinance Regarding Urban Park Development and Maintenance." To adhere to the one-subject rule, this ordinance should contain only regulations pertinent to the creation, upkeep, and public use of city parks, such as funding for new playgrounds, rules for park hours, or guidelines for landscaping. If the ordinance were to include a section about new building codes for residential housing or adjustments to the city's public transportation routes, it would likely be challenged for violating the one-subject rule because these topics fall outside the singular focus on urban parks.

• Example 3: A federal bill is introduced with the title "The Clean Water Infrastructure Improvement Act." This title clearly indicates the bill's singular focus. Therefore, the legislation should contain provisions exclusively related to improving water infrastructure, such as funding for upgrading municipal water treatment plants, grants for replacing aging pipelines, or regulations to prevent pollution of water sources. If the bill were to include amendments to national defense spending or new regulations for internet service providers, it would violate the one-subject rule by attempting to address multiple distinct issues under a single, misleading title.