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Better Late than Never?

Written by Larry Roeder, Editor
2012-01-26

When budget time rolls around again this year in Pennsylvania we’ll be met with yet another deficit and another round of cuts and/or tax increases. We’ve come to expect it.

Once again, the call will go out to downsize and remove the largess from the halls of the State’s General Assembly. Encouraging state legislators to take an honest look at reducing their size has been met with agreement by most officials. But an earnest attempt to shrink the size of the second largest legislature in the United States just never seems to be able to gain any traction.

The population of the Commonwealth has gone down again. The 2010 census shows it, our loss of another U.S. Congressional seat shows it and the size of our State Government should show it.

There are some who say a smaller state government will become less effective. There are many who believe that a reduction in size would improve the effectiveness of the Legislature by reducing the concentration of power that has been seen in the General Assembly for generations.

Fewer legislators could make members more independent of caucus leadership. Legislators would have to appeal to a larger group of constituents with a larger district and more people to serve than before. A byproduct of downsizing could also be more transparency.

Last year, State Representative Sam Smith (R-66) introduced House Bill 153 (HB-153) which, if passed, will lower the number of State Representatives from the current 203 to 153. That certainly could have a financial benefit on the cost of operating the General Assembly – a group that has seen the price to run it rise to about $300 million from $148 million in 1989 – 1990.

It took HB-153, with 72 bi-partisan co-sponsors, nine months to make it from the State House Government Committee to the House Floor. A vote by the full House could be taken in the next several weeks. If passed, it will only be a small step towards final completion.

To change the size of the Legislature requires an amendment to the state Constitution which means the same bill must be debated and passed in two consecutive sessions and subsequently approved by a referendum vote by the voters of Pennsylvania.

Since each session is two years long, if a vote were taken this year, the next one can come next year followed by the voter referendum. However, even if all goes well for HB-153, it will still take nearly another decade for the downsizing to happen.

According to text in HB-153, the downsized House would not become a reality until after the first session that follows the 2020 U.S. Census and subsequent reapportionment.

With 72 House members co-sponsoring the bill and the fact that members will be voting on a bill that won’t take effect for another decade (after many are out of office) the odds on passing the bill should be good.

Downsizing Pennsylvania’s government is long overdue. Even if HP-153 passes, Commonwealth taxpayers will still have to wait a while longer.

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