Sunset Provision

As the benevolent dictator of the small island nation of Hashmoopi, we sure do have our hands full keeping peace and order. Why, just the other day, some of our citizens were getting all bent out of shape simply because the water coming out of their faucets was brown and gritty instead of clear. Who knew clean water was such a big deal?

Anyway, before we have riots in the streets, we decide to introduce a new piece of legislation called the Dirt-Free Water Act. It allocates 5% of Hashmoopi’s discretionary budget every year to cleaning up our water supply and developing newer, better water treatment facilities for the future.

Just as we expected, the citizens of Hashmoopi are thrilled by the Dirt-Free Water Act. But what they don’t know (unless they’re reading the fine print) is that we snuck a little sunset provision into the bill. A “sunset provision” is a clause that dictates when a certain law, rule, or regulation will cease to exist. In this case, the Dirt-Free Water Act is set to expire in three years. The only way it won’t expire is if our cabinet votes to extend it, which they won’t do unless we tell them to. Er, politely ask them to. We are benevolent, after all.

Sunset provisions are very common in legislation, and not just on the small island nation of Hashmoopi. Many of our own statutes and acts include sunset provisions. Why? Because things change, and we don’t necessarily want to commit ourselves forever to a piece of legislation that may become unnecessary or undesirable within the next handful of years. However, just as with the Dirt-Free Water Act, most sunset provisions also include a method by which to extend the legislation. Here in the U.S., where Congress is in charge of federal spending, legislation is usually extended—or not—via majority vote. This gives lawmakers a chance to reassess the situation and decide what’s best for the nation.