AMERICAN TAXPAYER VICTORY 

OPENTHEBOOKS.COM ‘READ THE BILL’ REQUIREMENT ADOPTED BY THE 118^TH CONGRESS

OpentheBooks has led the way in asking Congress to put every piece of legislation online, with 72 hours’ notice

 

Chicago, IL – On Monday night, the House Republican majority adopted new rules for the 118^th Congress. One of those new rules is a public policy campaign that OpentheBooks.com spearheaded with a national petition, ‘Read the Bill.’

YOU CAN SIGN THE PETITION HERE 

The organization’s ‘Read the Bill’ campaign revived a national effort to simply require a 72-hour timeout before a final vote so elected officials and the American public can review the legislation before a final vote. 

For example, the Dec. 2020 COVID relief bill was 5,593 pages. It would have taken 93 hours to read that bill if a reader was reading one page per minute. The 72-hour rule may still require speed-readers, but it would go a long way to empowering taxpayers, legislators, and the press. 

There is no excuse in today’s digital age, when thousands of pages can be uploaded in seconds and published online at no cost, for Congress to keep those bills hidden from the public that pays their salaries.  

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