Idiom
Christmas tree bill
Meaning
A bill consisting of many riders that attracts many, often unrelated, floor amendments, which may provide special benefits to various groups or interests.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The senator added many small projects to the Christmas tree bill.”
“Because the budget proposal became a Christmas tree bill, it included funding for dozens of unrelated local projects to gain enough votes.”
“Legislators often load a Christmas tree bill with diverse amendments to ensure broad support, even if the resulting legislation lacks a cohesive purpose.”
Examples
simple
“The senator added many small projects to the Christmas tree bill.”
contextual
“Because the budget proposal became a Christmas tree bill, it included funding for dozens of unrelated local projects to gain enough votes.”
complex
“Legislators often load a Christmas tree bill with diverse amendments to ensure broad support, even if the resulting legislation lacks a cohesive purpose.”
Origin
From Christmas tree and bill, a compound of the holiday name and the legislative term.
Key words
Related idioms
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