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Wednesday, 08 February 2012 06:00

The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania applauds provisions of House Bill 153 that would reduce the size of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by 50 members. This downsizing would necessitate a radical redrawing of legislative district boundaries.

Given the partisan politics inherent in our current system, the league further supports integral reforms in the redistricting process. Proposed reforms, similar to HB 2420 introduced in 2008, would have boundaries drawn by a nonpartisan body with clear criteria for population equity, compactness, contiguousness and respect for subdivision boundaries. These standards, similar to those used in Iowa, serve as a guide for map makers and a basis for court appeals.

Since Article II of the Pennsylvania Constitution includes both Section 16, which dictates the size of the Senate and House, and Section 17, which dictates the process for drawing legislative district boundaries, it's time for a constitutional amendment to address these integrated reforms. Such a two-point conversion package, combining downsizing with redistricting reform, will allow all Pennsylvanians to be winners!

OLIVIA THORNE
President
League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania
Harrisburg

Comments (3)

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written by wop2, February 08, 2012 - 09:45 AM

I agree with downsizing the bloated legislature, but please don't forget its one nasty process. A bill must pass both House and Senate in two consecutive sessions of the legislature (4 years), and then be presented to the voters for final passage. Constitutional Amendments are tough to get through, although this one sounds like its worth the fight.

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written by Jones, February 08, 2012 - 01:38 PM

While I agree that the legislature is too big, I don't think I can trust anyone who would willingly vote themselves out of a job!

That is the most irrational thing I've ever heard!

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written by Gibsonia_Sam, February 08, 2012 - 08:05 PM

Not to worry Jones - please read the proposed legislation to set your mind at ease. The whole process, if successfully passed by two separate legislative sessions, will not take effect until after the 2020 reapportionment. So let's see, here we are in 2012 and the 2010 reapportionment has not taken effect yet - in fact, the currently proposed reapportionment scheme, based on the 2010 census, so flagrantly violates common sense that even our Supreme Court had to reject it.
So - assuming the League of Woman Voters' accolade for this proposal is well founded, one could expect that the 2020 reapportionment could be completed during 2022 - meaning that it would be 2014 before these dear legislators would have to worry about losing their precious phoony baloney jobs.
Very few, if any, of the current sitting members will be around by then. And those that are will have earned life time benefits and a dandy pension.
So your fears are misplaced - none of these folks will have any of that to worry about.

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