Reducing the size of the Pennsylvania State Legislature has been suggested frequently over the years, and two bills, House Bill 1234 and House Bill 1716, are now being considered.

House Bill 1234 would decrease the number of house districts represented to 153 (there are now 203 districts), and maintain the current 50 senate districts.

House Bill 1716 would decrease the number of senate districts to 38, but keep 203 house districts. Both have passed in the house with bipartisan support. One of them would need to be passed in both houses in two consecutive years, then approved by voters if it is to become law, as a constitutional change is needed.

Geoff Brace, speaking to the League of Women Voters at the March 10 meeting, suggested a reduction in the size of the legislature would not result in any significant cost savings and is approaching problems in the state the wrong way. Brace is a newly elected Lehigh County Commissioner and a student of government and politics.

A lively discussion of state government followed Brace's presentation.

The bills address the size of the legislature but not efficiency or accountability, Brace said. Only the salary line in the budget would be reduced; improvements in government are not addressed, he said. Matters such as access to the governing body, governmental accountability, conflicts of interest by elected representatives, transparency in the election process, reapportionment controlled by political parties, and a number of other deficiencies are not addressed in any legislation before the state house.

Voters like their state representatives' ability to act on their behalf with departments of state government, Brace said. He knows this from experience: his day job is working on behalf of citizens in the Allentown office of State Representative Mike Schlossberg, D-132nd, who voted for one of the bills.

Brace said the current interest in making the state legislature smaller offers an opportunity to better the system of governance in multiple ways. This is a more complex approach than simply reducing the legislature's size, but Brace believes it is more important.