Shrink or Grow the Size of Legislature

NCSL’s blog, The Thicket, has a post up about debating reducing or growing the size of the legislature. Pennsylvania serves on the shrinking size, as that is an oft-cited recommendation, most recently in the Post-Gazette, whereas the proposal to increase the Canadian Parliament is the other side of that debate.

We have looked into the question of reducing the size of the Pennsylvania General Assembly before, relying on NCSL data among others, finding that there is little correlation between number of legislators and policy outcomes. However, legislative professionalization – pay, benefits, length of sessions, number of staff, etc. – has a much stronger connection on taxes, spending, and policy.