Full House
With 203 state representatives, Pennsylvania has the largest full-time lower legislative chamber in the country.
A bill being considered in the House of Representatives could change that. HB 153, proposes amending the Pennsylvania Constitution to reduce the size of the state House of Representatives from the current 203 members to 151.
To get HB 153 out of Harrisburg and before Pennsylvania voters in the fall, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, held a news conference Monday calling on his fellow legislators to hold a vote on a bill.
Monday was the last day the bill could be voted on in time to meet the referendum deadline.
“I am calling on our leadership team to make this happen today,” Metcalfe said Monday. “Today is all about integrity.”
He called on those who voted to approve the bill in the past to stay consistent in their support of it and said those that wavered would be exposed for telling voters one thing and doing another behind closed doors.
“We have our own little swamp here in Harrisburg,” Metcalfe said.
For the constitutional amendment to take effect it must twice pass in the state House of Representatives and Senate with a simple majority and with three months between each vote. It would then go to the voters in a referendum held on an Election Day no less than three months after passing the Legislature.
HB 153 has been approved once by the House and twice by the Senate.
Several members of the House spoke at the news conference, each extolling the bill as an opportunity for the citizens of the state to vote on how they want to be governed and criticizing the current system as bloated and chaotic.
Other supporters of the bill spoke, reminding House members of their previous commitments and the merits of letting the citizens vote on reducing the size of the Legislature.
The bill's prime sponsor, state Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-124th, said they believe they should have the votes but the challenge has been to get the bill brought up for a final vote.“We have 117 members who voted for this last session. Along with that there are a number of freshman who've indicated to me they support this legislation,” he said. “I don't see how you could vote for it last session and not vote for the same legislation this session.”Knowles emphasized the bill gives the voters a chance to decide how they want to be governed and that he believes it is popular with citizens throughout the state.State Rep. Rick Saccone, R-39th, said he visited several other state legislatures and saw how a smaller House can benefit a state.“Our neighbor in Ohio ... governs with a 99-member state House,” he said. “There's much less chaos and much more robust debate in the state house.”Saccone brought up New York, Illinois and Montana as other examples of states that govern and seem to function fine with fewer representatives.He also argued that reducing the size of the House would lead to more power in the hands of individual representatives rather than the few in leadership positions.Metcalfe expressed some concern that the bill would not be voted on, requiring its supporters to try again next year.“This is our last opportunity,” he said.At press time, the bill was not scheduled to be considered at Monday's session, according to the calendar on the General Assembly's website.
