Editing Contract with America (section)

==Content==
The contract's text included a list of eight reforms the Republicans promised to enact, and ten bills they promised to bring to floor debate and votes, if they were made the majority following the election. During the crafting of the contract, proposals were limited to "60% issues", i.e. legislation that polling showed garnered 60% support of the American people, intending for the contract to avoid promises on controversial and divisive matters like [[abortion]] and [[school prayer]].<ref name="gayner"/><ref name="RightNation">{{Cite book |first1=John |last1=Micklethwait |first2=Adrian |last2=Wooldridge |name-list-style=amp |title=[[The Right Nation|The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America]] |year=2004 |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/rightnationconse00mick/page/115 115–122] |isbn=1-59420-020-3 }}</ref> [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] biographer [[Lou Cannon]] characterized  the contract as having taken more than half of its text from Ronald Reagan's [[1985 State of the Union Address]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio |first=Lou |last=Cannon |publisher=Public Affairs |year=2001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ronaldreaganpres00cann/page/279 279] |isbn=9781891620843 |url=https://archive.org/details/ronaldreaganpres00cann |url-access=registration}}</ref>

===Government and operational reforms===
On the first day of their majority in the House, the Republicans promised to bring up for vote, eight major reforms:<ref name="Politico">{{cite web |last=Galen |first=Rich |date=November 4, 2014 |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/11/the-revolution-last-time-112499/ |title=The Revolution Last Time: What Gingrich's '94 takeover can teach Boehner (and McConnell) about the next two years. |publisher=POLITICO MAGAZINE |access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref><ref name="BillOfRightsInstitute">{{cite web |date=2021 |url=https://billofrightsinstitute.org/activities/republican-house-representatives-republican-contract-with-america-1994 |title=Republican House Representatives, "Republican Contract with America," 1994 |publisher=BILL of RIGHTS INSTITUTE |access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>

# Require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply to Congress;
# Select a [[Big Four auditors|major, independent auditing firm]] to conduct a comprehensive [[audit]] of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;
# Cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;
# Limit the terms of all committee chairs;
# Ban the casting of [[Proxy voting|proxy votes]] in committee;
# Require committee meetings to be open to the public;
# Require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;
# Guarantee an honest accounting of the [[United States budget process|federal budget]] by implementing [[Zero-based budgeting|zero base-line budgeting]].

===Major policy changes===
During the first one hundred days of the 104th Congress, the Republicans pledged "to bring to the floor the following [ten] bills, each to be given a full and open debate, each to be given a clear and fair vote, and each to be immediately available for public inspection". The text of the proposed bills was included in the contract, which was released prior to the election. These bills were not governmental operational reforms, as the previous promises were; rather, they represented significant changes to policy. They mainly included a [[balanced budget]] requirement, tax cuts for small businesses, families and seniors, [[term limits]] for legislators, [[Social Security (United States)|social security]] reform, tort reform, and welfare reform.