Hitching a Ride: Omnibus Legislating in the U.S. Congress By Glen S. Krutz. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2001. 183p. $60.00 cloth, $22.95 paper.

Extract

In recent decades, roughly 25 percent of major bills considered by the U.S. Congress have been omnibus measures—large, often unwieldy, legislative vehicles that touch on multiple policy areas. The 1981 reconciliation bill, which included much of President Reagan's economic agenda, is perhaps the best-known example. But many important policy proposals, from crime control to welfare reform, have passed as part of omnibus legislation.