The Partisan Art of “Striking Everything”
Dina I -
“Mr. Chair, I move to strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: …”
Would you prefer a Senate bill on Hydrology Reports or Immigration? Kidney disease awareness or a housing grant program? Defensive driving courses or unmanned aircraft? Well, guess what, you can have both of them on the same bill… sort of.
Enter the Strike Everything after the Enacting Clause amendment, or simply “strike everything” (S/E). This is the “super fun partisan tactic” I mentioned in my last post that makes it possible.
According to AZ Leg., a S/E “proposes to delete the entire text of the existing bill and substitute new language, essentially making it a completely different bill, possibly on an entirely different subject.”
I could make my favorite thing in the world (a pros and cons list), but to keep this short, I’ll give you just one of each:
Pro: It can revive “dead” bills.
Con: It can create an unproductive back-and-forth between parties or even within the same party, which is exactly what’s happening with the Republican majority right now.
For context: Democrats, currently in the minority, have been using S/Es to rewrite Republican bills and get their proposals in front of the legislature. Without this tactic, they’d have almost no shot at passing anything. In retaliation, Republicans have started striking their own bills. Confused? Don’t worry, I was too (honestly, still kind of am).
There’s also something called a “vehicle bill” (exactly what it sounds like). It’s a generic bill that acts as a shell for future S/E amendments. In the amendments section, they’re not changing the content; they’re just tweaking the language, laying the groundwork for something bigger later on, or simply striking because the other party is too.
So, the next time you see a bill that starts as hydrology and ends up about drones, you’ll know: it’s not a mistake; it’s strategy… or perhaps just for fun.
Stay tuned for a “what I do in a day” blog in my next post this week!
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