The Read the Bills Act (RTBA) is proposed legislation intended to require the United States Congress to read the legislation that it passes. It was originally written in 2006[1] by Downsize DC, a non-profit organization focused on decreasing the size of the federal government. The proposed act is a response to the passing of bills that are thousands of pages long and are passed without copies being made available to the members of Congress who vote on the bill. The bill is aimed at limiting the size and growth of the federal government.
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) stated his support for it in November 2010.[2] Paul went on to sponsor and propose the bill in the 112th congress as S.3360 on June 28, 2012.
| Congress | Short title | Bill number(s) | Date introduced | Sponsor(s) |
| Latest status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 112th Congress | Read the Bills Act | June 28, 2012 | Rand Paul(R-KY) | 0 | Died in committee | |
| 113th Congress | May 6, 2013 | Kerry Bentivolio(R-MI) | 1 | Died in committee | ||
| November 7, 2013 | Rand Paul(R-KY) | 0 | Died in committee | |||
| 114th Congress | June 15, 2015 | Rand Paul(R-KY) | 0 | Died in committee | ||
| 115th Congress | December 5, 2018 | Rand Paul(R-KY) | 0 | Died in committee | ||
| 116th Congress | June 3, 2020 | Rand Paul(R-KY) | 0 | Died in committee | ||
| 117th Congress | January 28, 2021 | Rand Paul(R-KY) | 0 | Referred to committee |
Similarly, a separate bill nicknamed the "Read the Bill Act" would require bills to be posted publicly 72 hours prior to consideration in Congress. Unlike the Downsize DC proposal, this bill is supported by ReadTheBill.org (part of the Sunlight Foundation) with the primary aim to increase transparency in government.[3] It was introduced in the U.S. House (by Brian Baird in 2006, 2007, and 2009) and Senate (by Jim Bunning in 2009, and by John Ensign in 2011). The Senate version differs in a few ways, including a requirement to have the Congressional Budget Office provide an evaluation of the proposed legislation.[4]