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Pennsylvania House of Representatives
04/19/2024 01:40 PM
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=H&SPick=20150&cosponId=16484
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House of Representatives
Session of 2015 - 2016 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: January 8, 2015 03:13 PM
From: Representative Jerry Knowles
To: All House members
Subject: Reducing the Size of the General Assembly
 
There is no magic in the number 203; in fact the final number of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the result of a map drawing mistake after the 1968 Constitutional Convention. Once the final map was drawn, it was noticed that instead of 201 seats they had 203. The drafters of the maps did not want to draft another map so they left the number at 203.

Proposals reducing the size of the Pennsylvania legislature are not rare. Most of these legislative downsizing proposals argued that the legislature is either too big to be efficient or costs too much to maintain. Indeed, the Pennsylvania legislature is the second largest legislature in the country.

With that in mind, I will be re-introducing the exact legislation (HB1234) Speaker Smith sponsored last Session, which passed the House on Dec. 17, 2013 by a vote of 148-50. This legislation would reduce the size of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to 153 members. I believe that it is best for the House of Representatives to determine the size of their body and allow the Senate to make a similar determination in regard to the size of its body.

Please join me in sponsoring this legislation.

Previous co-sponsors: S. H. SMITH, REED, STEPHENS, TURZAI, KAMPF, MUSTIO, CALTAGIRONE, METZGAR, BLOOM, SAYLOR, KNOWLES, SANKEY, REESE, METCALFE, HAGGERTY, F. KELLER, KOTIK, GREINER, MAHONEY, DUNBAR, MASSER, AUMENT, PEIFER, READSHAW, EMRICK, BENNINGHOFF, SACCONE, EVERETT, STEVENSON, GRELL, C. HARRIS, GODSHALL, MARSICO, MENTZER, MAJOR, MACKENZIE, WATSON, MARSHALL, DeLUCA, GILLEN, PETRI, GINGRICH, MULLERY, CLYMER, DEASY, ADOLPH, M. K. KELLER, ROCK, WHITE, DELOZIER, HACKETT, CARROLL, KORTZ, SWANGER, SIMS, MOUL, ENGLISH, GROVE, FARRY, MILNE, SIMMONS, CORBIN AND MURT


Introduced as HB153