Bill would reduce size of Legislature, save millions

HARRISBURG -- The Pennsylvania General Assembly, the nation's largest full-time legislature, would be reduced by 52 members -- saving taxpayers millions of dollars -- under a bill featured today at a House State Government hearing.

The hearing comes 597 days after the bill was introduced, said Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Moon, the sponsor.

The odds are long for passage. House State Government Chair Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, has been under fire for stymieing reform legislation.

Under Mustio's proposed constitutional amendment, the House would be reduced from 201 members to 161 and the Senate would be cut from 50 to 40 members. The bill mandates a 20 percent cut in the Legislature's $300 million-plus budget.

Citizen activist Gene Stilp of Harrisburg disrupted the hearing at the outset. Before Josephs called the meeting to order, Stilp spoke loudly to the gathering crowd of lawmakers, witnesses and reporters.

"Nothing will happen here today. Absolutely nothing will happen. It'll be a dog-and-pony show, " Stilp said.

The crux of the issue on reducing the size of the Legislature is whether Pennsylvanians would feel short-changed with lawmakers representing larger districts. Advancements in technology such as the Internet and cell phones counter the argument that service to constituents would be lessened, Mustio said.

Mustio says it's about accountability. "Each vote will mean so much more. No longer will a member's vote be lost in the tally. Constituents will see more easily that each vote matters," he said in prepared testimony.

The hearing is expected to include testimony from officials of the Commonwealth Foundation, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the League of Women Voters and Common Cause.

Critics say reducing the size of the Legislature is not a fundamental reform that would change how the body operates. Some reformers support a constitutional convention where they say changes could be made such as reducing the Legislature to a part-time body or clearly limiting benefits.

Calls for reform have intensified because the Legislature is the target of a criminal investigation by Attorney General Tom Corbett's office, into whether state resources were used for campaigns. Twelve people with ties to the House Democratic Caucus were charged with crimes last month. Republican staffers recently were subpoenaed.

The proposal is a constitutional amendment and if passed this fall, would need to be approved a second time in the 2009-2010 session and then be submitted to the state's voters for approval.