The legislative pay increase created a great deal of outrage among voters.

The negative reaction to the pay hike is understandable, since few Pennsylvanians believe that legislators are working for their best interests. But the legislative pay package is only one troubling issue. Another issue is the size of the Pennsylvania legislature itself.

Right now, the state Senate has 50 members and the House has 203 members. Ours is one of the largest legislatures in the country - as well as one of the best paid.

California's population is about three times that of Pennsylvania's, yet its legislature is only one half the size of ours. California is a vibrant and growing state, while Pennsylvania has a stagnant economy.

The poverty rate in our state is increasing faster than in all but seven other states. Clearly, some creative thinking and planning is needed to bring us back to economic health. Perhaps the unwieldy size of our legislature inhibits the leadership and action we need.

The Butler County Democrats for Change (D-PAC) circulated a petition at the Butler County Farm Show last month that calls for a 50 percent reduction in the size of the legislature. Over 300 people of all political persuasions signed the petition.

The public's response was very positive. This is an issue that resonates with voters in Butler County.

At D-PAC's last regular membership meeting, the organization passed a resolution inviting each Butler County legislator to take the lead in offering a bill in the General Assembly to reduce by half the size of the Senate and House. I sent letters to all Butler County legislators asking each one to take the lead on this issue.

We have not received a response from most lawmakers, but Sens. Jane Orie (R-40th) and Mary Jo White (R-21st) have co-sponsored a Senate bill (SB 579) that proposes to reduce the size of the senate to 40 members and the size of the house to 121.

Although we applaud the two senators for co-sponsoring the bill, neither lawmaker appears to be taking a leadership position on the matter.

A much better bill was recently introduced in the House (HB 1936). The House bill proposes to reduce the size of the senate to 26 members and the house to 103.

To date, 25 House members have co-sponsored the bill. No Butler County representatives have signed onto this bill.

D-PAC will continue to encourage our legislators to do the right thing for Pennsylvania.