The people who wrote the Iowa Constitution included this in Article III, Section 29:

“Every act shall embrace but one subject, and matters properly connected therewith; which subject shall be expressed in the title.”

Debate goes on endlessly about what was intended by long-gone government authorities. Some people interpret “well-regulated militia” as “I’ll take that AK-47, please.” But Section 29 is unambiguous.

When you submit a bill as a member of the Iowa Legislature, it must be about one topic only.

It’s an eminently reasonable standard. Government works best when it’s simple, and debate advances civilization much more quickly and efficiently when everybody is talking about the same thing.

So let’s make this our annual pet peeve, because it’s a clear-cut, unambiguous, reasonable rule that everybody ignores.

Take House File 2434 as the latest example of flouting the bedrock of our government. Here’s a bill whose provisions include: the inventory of information technology devices by the Department of Administrative Services; group health insurance coverage for state employees; medication therapy management; the curriculum at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy; analysis of state employee workstations and office standards; the film project and tax credit program; restrictions of benefits in the food assistance program; coordination of mental health services; and so forth.

Such a list meets the “single subject” requirement only if the subject is “things to talk about.”

No wonder legislation gets bogged down in endless wrangling, candidates for public office trade accusations about who voted for what, and unworthy proposals have a chance to sneak through the process and become law.

If you want to fight endlessly about technical interpretations, have at it. But when there’s no doubt about the constitution’s meaning, let’s follow it.