Freshman state Rep. Jaret Gibbons, D-10th, is on the right track in seeking reduced spending by the General Assembly. He has joined with two first-term colleagues in a push to trim the legislature's budget by 20 percent, which, according to an article in Sunday's Butler Eagle, would result in an annual savings of about $66 million.

State taxpayers would feel upbeat if the effort begins garnering support from veteran lawmakers. But don't look for such support to evolve, and don't look for such a radical cut to be given the legislature's blessing anytime soon, if ever.

Even a reform commission's proposal last year for a 10 percent legislative spending cut isn't likely to be embraced by many under Harrisburg's capitol dome.

Based on the past, taxpayers should expect to see more spending by the legislature, not less.

A better prospect than significantly decreased spending by the legislature is that the legislature's closely guarded surplus account, which wasn't even publicly disclosed until about a month after the controversial July 2005 legislative pay-raise vote, will get bigger rather than smaller.

For those lawmakers who have to be reminded, that fund is made up of taxpayers' money.

The purpose of the fund purportedly is to protect the legislature from leverage by the administration in power.

But that fund should not exist.

"I think one of the biggest criticisms of the legislature is how much money is being spent," Gibbons said. "Our costs are more than many other legislatures' throughout the country, and people have called for a decrease in the size of the legislature, but what people get at is its expense.

"People want to see a change in the amount of money we spend on government, and we need to trim the fat."

Those comments are on target, and Gibbons should not be faulted for joining fellow Western Pennsylvania freshman Reps. Matt Smith, D-Mount Lebanon, and Randy Vulakovich, R-Shaler, in working on behalf of the 20 percent cut.

Vulakovich and Smith introduced their plan in November.

But the three lawmakers have to face reality: Theirs is an uphill battle with terrible odds of success.

They can only hope that their efforts are productive in some small way.