With 253 members, Pennsylvania has the largest full-time state legislature in the country. It’s also been criticized as one of the least efficient.
State Sen. Lisa Boscola, a Democrat, and a Republican House member are coming together to trim things down.
“I haven’t gotten great feedback from other representatives about whether they would support this,” Boscola said. “No’s across the board.”
“They’re voting on their own pink slip, right?” she added with a chuckle.
Boscola is pushing fellow lawmakers to vote to shrink the state legislature from 203 house members to 101, and Senate from 50 members to 38.
“There are too many members weighing in on everything. You can’t get consensus building,” she said.
Boscola says the current state budget impasse is a prime example. Adding a smaller lot is more efficient, and less expensive for taxpayers.
She’s teaming with Republican Valerie Gaydos, who has a similar bill in the house. Boscola says larger districts, would be a remedy against gerrymandered polarization.
“You’re going to have to compete for larger districts, and you’re going to have more moderates—just by sheer numbers and the diversity of what you’re representing across the state,” she said.
The push for downsizing extends beyond Boscola and Gaydos.
Republican state Sen. Jarrett Coleman says he is introducing legislation to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to make the legislature part-time. He says the change would improve efficiency and encourage lawmakers to hold other jobs, giving them real-world insight into the laws they pass.
If Boscola’s bill is approved by the legislature, it would appear on the ballot as a voter referendum. If passed, the new districts would be drawn using data from the 2030 census.
Boscola also said she doesn’t expect the current budget impasse to be resolved in October. She believes it will be settled after the upcoming elections.