HF 2830

Introduction - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026)

Posted on 03/26/2025 11:32 a.m.

A bill for an act
relating to state government; proposing an amendment to the Minnesota
Constitution, article IV, section 17, by amending the single subject and title clauses;
prohibiting bills from being amended in a way that changes the original purpose
of the bill.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. new text begin CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PROPOSED.
new text end

new text begin An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution is proposed to the people. If the amendment
is adopted, article IV, section 17, will read:
new text end

Sec. 17.

deleted text begin No law shall deleted text end new text begin A law must not new text end embrace more than one subject, which deleted text begin shall deleted text end new text begin must new text end
be expressed in its title. new text begin Each provision in a law must be directly and logically related to
the single subject stated in the title. When determining whether a law embraces more than
one subject, the court must narrowly construe what constitutes a direct and logical relation
to the single subject.
new text end

new text begin On a bill's passage through either house of the legislature, a bill must not be amended
in a manner that changes the original purpose of the bill. When determining whether an
enacted bill serves the original purpose of the bill, the original purpose of the bill must be
narrowly construed.
new text end

new text begin A Minnesota resident may bring an action alleging a violation of this section in district
court without needing to demonstrate direct injury. If a provision in a law is deemed
unconstitutional pursuant to this section, the act is void and unenforceable and the offending
provision is not severable.
new text end

Sec. 2. new text begin SUBMISSION TO VOTERS.
new text end

new text begin (a) The proposed amendment must be submitted to the people at the 2026 general election.
If ratified, the amendment is effective the day following ratification. The question submitted
must be:
new text end

new text begin "Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to require each provision in a law be
directly and logically related to a single subject; to prohibit a bill from being amended in a
way that changes the original purpose of the bill; to require the new section to be narrowly
construed; to allow a Minnesota resident to allege a violation; and to provide that if a law
is unconstitutional under the new section, the entire law is void and unenforceable?
new text end

	new text begin Yes . new text end
	new text begin No . new text end	new text begin " new text end

new text begin (b) The title required under Minnesota Statutes, section 204D.15, subdivision 1, for the
question submitted to the people under paragraph (a) must be: "Single Subject and Title
Clause; Original Purpose."
new text end

Sec. 3. new text begin STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND INTENT.
new text end

new text begin The legislature finds that the constitutional amendment proposed by this act furthers the
important public interest of promoting public transparency by strengthening the single
subject and title clause and by adding an original purpose clause. Moreover, the legislature
finds that it is necessary to provide guidance on interpretation to the courts and to provide
enforcement mechanisms.
new text end

new text begin The legislature finds that the practice of using omnibus bills with hundreds or thousands
of provisions on multiple topics under the umbrellas of overly general titles is the antithesis
of public transparency and has pushed the use of the single subject clause to the breaking
point. The courts have infrequently found laws to be in violation of the single subject and
title clauses, and have given deference to the legislature and its authority to act as an
independent branch of government. The court has looked for and used "mere filaments" to
string together pieces of a law into a single subject. The legislature finds that this deference
and liberal construction provided by the court is no longer appropriate or desirable. The
legislature intends to hold itself to a higher standard and to pass bills that are tightly related
to a single subject and to define what constitutes a single subject narrowly. A single subject
is one that has a direct and logical connection to a clearly articulated subject that is stated
in the title of the bill.
new text end

new text begin Further, the legislature finds that it undermines the goal of public transparency when
the legislature amends a bill so that the bill deviates from its original purpose. To remedy
this, the legislature determines that each bill must not deviate from its original purpose as
the bill moves through the legislative process in the senate and house of representatives.
By requiring a bill to remain true to its original purpose, it will allow the public to know
the unchanging purpose of the bill throughout the entire legislative process. Further, this
requirement will curtail practices that are not in the interest of public transparency, including
but not limited to the practice of using a bill as a vehicle for amendments where the bill and
amendments do not share the same original purpose; amending multiple omnibus bills onto
a single bill where the bills do not all share the same original purpose; and combining bills
and amendments with different original purposes in order to garner support for the bill. The
legislature further finds that when determining what constitutes the original purpose of a
bill, the legislature intends that the court will narrowly construe the original purpose of the
bill. At the same time, the legislature does not intend to unreasonably hinder the legislative
process by preventing amendments or substantive changes to a bill, so long as those
amendments and changes remain true to the original purpose.
new text end

new text begin The legislature will diligently strive to meet the constitutional requirements of this act
and to promote the public transparency interests associated with the requirements. The
legislature intends to pass bills that include only provisions that are directly and logically
related to the single subject in the title. Further, as a bill moves through the legislative
process in both bodies of the legislature, the legislature intends that it will not amend the
bill in such a way that the original purpose of that bill is changed. If the legislature fails at
these goals, the legislature intends that the court will narrowly construe the single subject
and title clause and the original purpose clause in favor of public transparency.
new text end