Politics

Read the Bill: What?s Been Rushed So Far in 2009?

By Paul Blumenthal

Every year there are a bunch of bills that wind up getting pushed through Congress with little time for both you and your elected lawmakers to read. So how many are there for 2009? The following is a collection of the bills that haven’t been available long enough — at least 72 hours prior to consideration — for anyone to read them. If you find this to be as ludicrous and objectionable as we do, head over to ReadTheBill.org to find out what you can do about it.

• H.R.1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 **
• H.R.11 Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 *
• H.R.12 Paycheck Fairness Act *
• H.R.36 Presidential Library Donation Reform Act of 2009 *
• H.R.35 Presidential Records Act Amendments of 2009 *
• H.R.2 Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 - 22 hours
• H.R.1105 Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009
• H.R.1586 To impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain TARP recipients. - 11 hours
• H.R.1512 Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2009 - 12 hours
• H.R.1804 Thrift Savings Plan Enhancement Act of 2009 - 9 hours
• H.R.2751 Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act - 10 hours

* - Due to limitations on Congressional data, the exact time this bill was made available cannot be determined at this time, but it was considered in less than 72 hours. For more info about a bill’s timeline in the legislative process, click on a bill name above and then follow the link in the middle of the page to “See All Actions”.

** - While the initial bill text in the House and the Senate was publicly available for over 72 hours, the final text, in the form of the conference report, was available for fewer than 72 hours.

Full post as published by Sunlight Foundation on June 17, 2009 (boomark / email).