Pennsylvania's super-sized legislature - Commonwealth Foundation

There’s nothing like a government scandal to get people in the mood . . . for reform. An article by Anne Reeves in the Patriot-News reminds us why the Pennsylvania legislature should down-size. Reforming the general assembly, however, is more complicated than cutting the number of legislative seats or even more significant reform like downgrading to a part-time legislature. In this short article Reeves gives readers a peek at the cost of big government:

At 253 members the PA legislature is the largest full-time state legislative body in the nation. New York’s assembly totals 211, California’s 120.
On a staff-per-legislator basis Pennsylvania ranks third, this “Professionalization” is especially costly.
Pennsylvania tolerates the highest staff-to-population ratio of the 13 largest states (Of course you need more staff to run your office when half of your people are busy campaigning for the next election).
Base salaries at $73,613 are the fourth highest in the nation. But don’t forget to add $129 per diem and various perks like liberal retirement benefits.
Only California spends more per legislative member, Pennsylvania spends an average of 1.13 million.
On the bright side, (yes there is a glimmer of hope) the 2008-09 budget set aside 332.2 million to run both chambers, in 2003 that figure was 341 million. Although $8 million of the $9 million cut was for a legislative drafting system (a one-time expense).

Shrinking the physical size of the legislature could be beneficial. But moving away from a professional legislature to a citizen-legislature is crucial to other reforms including eliminating the lame duck session, a constitutional convention, increasing government transparency, and limited terms. Click here for more on shrinking the legislature.