Legislation that would amend Pennsylvania’s Constitution and shrink the size of the General Assembly cleared a committee vote in the state House Tuesday morning.

By a 14-10 vote, the House State Government Committee agreed to consider HB 153, which would amend the state Constitution and reduce the number of seats in the House of Representatives from 203 to 151.

An identical bill was approved last year by both the House and Senate. Bill sponsor Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-Berks/Carbon/Schuylkill, stressed to committee members that the exact bill would need to pass through each chamber again this session to then be considered by voters.

“The most important element of this piece of legislation is your bosses ... are the ones who will be making the final decision,” he told members.

In voicing his support for the proposal, Rep. Brad Roae, R-Crawford/Erie, said even following a potential reduction, Pennsylvania would still have a larger legislature than New York, Florida and California, which has three times the population.

“There’s no reason why we need 203 of us,” he said.

The measure — which was first approved by legislators in the 2016-17 legislative session — now heads to the full House.

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12th, who is the committee chairman and voted for the measure, said following the session that he expects similar bipartisan support for the bill this year. He said opposition could come from those whose seat may no longer exist in four years.

Metcalfe said his support for the legislation comes from a desire to see the size of the executive and judicial branches of government reduced as a way to save taxpayers, “billions of dollars.”

“I believe this legislation ... is a way for those of us that are legislators to lead by example,” he said.

Before voting on the measure, the committee considered proposed amendments to the bill which require additional government reforms. Specifically HB 722, as introduced by Rep. Mary Jo Daley, D-Montgomery, would have required district boundary lines to be redone by a citizen-led redistricting commission.

Metcalfe called the proposal, “an obstructionist move” that would have not allowed the original bill to move forward this session. He added that 42 people have been arrested since May while advocating or protesting on behalf of HB 722, “many” of whom were found to be from out of state.

“It’s a little interesting ... that somebody feels they have to pay to bring people in to protest from out of state for a piece of legislation that supposedly is just strictly a state piece of legislation,” he told the committee.

The amendment failed by a 15-10 vote.