Why is unrelated legislation permitted to be attached to bills? What is an omnibus bill?
Under the Minnesota Constitution, only single-subject laws may be passed by the Legislature. Theoretically, this requires that only amendments directly related, or “germane” to the measure, be attached to a bill. In practice, many amendments are added to bills. The terms “omnibus bill” or “garbage bill” are used when a bill contains what some people feel are unrelated subjects. Many complaints of multiple-subject bills center around large appropriations and tax bills. An omnibus tax bill may cover various changes in several areas of tax law, such as income tax law, corporate tax law, and sales tax law. Amendments some people consider non-germane to the bill are sometimes included during conference committees, when time is running out during the session and compromises are made quickly. However, typically, those amendments have passed one of the bodies. When a bill is being amended in committee, the committee chair rules whether an amendment is germane; on the House floor, the Speaker o
