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We do have this in the US! All laws should show who wrote them, when, who approved it, etc, we just don't have a great API for programs, and moreso we don't have the public appetite to consume it


No. The request is to show who wrote individual lines or sections. Currently the bill shows as being 'written' by legislators Smith & Johnson but lacks crediting/blaming who actually provided the wording for each section. The goal would be to see who slipped in which pieces of the bill.


Ah ok that makes a lot more sense. To be fair though that is the same as git, I might push up the code but that doesn't mean I "created" it - I'm just the one taking responsibility for it by introducing it into the system


True, but signing the commits with a key for a specific subsection would mean you attach responsibility for whatever was in that commit. Right now the system is, a bill is listed with who "sponsors it." That can mean they wrote it, it could mean a lobbyists gave it to them or that several people spread across the staff of different representatives wrote it. Sure, we could say who sponsors it bears full responsibility, but its not practical, especially when a bill grows to become a tome. Using a VCS system like git isn't full proof, a senator could just pass out their keys like candy, but I think it would mean a whole lot more if voters could go, "well here is your commit to this bill on X day at Y time, signed by your keys." It may also help correlate the wheeling and dealing that goes on and more importantly, how a bill changes as it goes through committees.

Edit: Actually it could have several other benefits. A senator could tag a "release" of the bill prior to the bill going to committee so the Senator could say, "look, this is the state of the bill now after going through committees, but here is a diff from when I tagged it before it going to committees. So no, my opponents are wrong when they say I put a provision in this bill to stock my favorite fishing hole, just check the difference."




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