The Reform New Party proposed a measure to limit the number of bills a single lawmaker can introduce as the main sponsor to 50 in order to prevent 'reckless bill proposals' by members of the National Assembly.
On the 22nd, Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform New Party, and Kim Yong-nam, chairman of the Policy Committee, stated at the National Assembly, "We will introduce a legislative volume system that limits the number of bills a lawmaker can sponsor during their term to 50," adding, "If the legislative volume system is implemented, it will encourage more cautious legislative activities."
Leader Lee explained, "By setting the total number of individual bill sponsorships to 50 over four years, approximately one month will be allocated per bill," and added, "This will minimize the legislative body's resources spent on unnecessary bill reviews, thereby increasing legislative efficiency."
According to the Reform New Party, the number of bills introduced by lawmakers was 1,651 in the 16th National Assembly, 5,728 in the 17th National Assembly, and 21,594 in the 20th National Assembly, representing more than a 13-fold increase compared to the 16th National Assembly. In the 21st National Assembly, as of January this year, the number already reached 23,475.
Leader Lee said, "The explosive increase in the number of bills introduced by lawmakers is because major parties use the number of bills introduced by each lawmaker as an evaluation criterion for their legislative activities," adding, "The phenomenon of 'reckless bill proposals,' which aim to increase the number of bills without considering the necessity or completeness of the bills, is becoming increasingly severe."
He also stated, "There is a widespread form of so-called 'commissioned legislation,' where government ministries ask lawmakers to introduce bills they need as a way to bypass the difficult internal review procedures such as inter-ministerial consultations," and introduced the policy plan by saying, "The Reform New Party will reform the worsening situation of lawmakers' 'reckless bill proposals.'"
The Reform New Party also decided to disclose the records of main sponsors and co-sponsors of unconstitutional laws. Leader Lee said, "The so-called 'Kim Yo-jong's command law,' known as the 'Prohibition of North Korean Leaflets Act,' which fueled conflicts within the National Assembly, was enforced on March 31, 2021, but was declared unconstitutional and repealed in September 2023, just two years and six months later."
He added, "Those who sponsored or co-sponsored bills that were ultimately ruled unconstitutional will be required to disclose this information in their election campaign materials or in the candidate registration information managed by the Election Commission when running for office."
Leader Lee emphasized, "The public has the right to know which candidates engaged in unconstitutional legislation and the content of such unconstitutional bills," and said, "Considering the exhausting debates, social damage caused by unconstitutional legislation, and the public's right to know, it is appropriate to disclose records of unconstitutional legislation."
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