October 18, 2007
The only way to reduce taxes is to reduce spending. It’s that simple. A giant step forward to reduce spending is to shrink the size of government. We, in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, can start with ourselves.
Pennsylvania ranks first in the total number of full-time legislators, second in total legislative costs, and third in legislative costs per capita. That’s a potent one-two-three punch to the taxpayers of the state. We have 253 members in the House and Senate combined. That means 253 pensions, healthcare plans, salaries and staff – all of which costs us now and for years into the future.
It is estimated that Pennsylvanians could save in excess of $100 million annually by cutting this body in half. Reduction in size must be accompanied by other reforms like changing the way we draw legislative districts. Gerrymandering larger districts to protect incumbents and aggravate partisan division will not make Pennsylvania government more effective no matter how small we make it.
We who advocate reform in Harrisburg have a long way to go, but we have made some progress already:
In the near future we will also pass historic open records legislation and have a chance to reform campaign financing in Pennsylvania for the first time. Reform is happening, and Pennsylvanians will be better off for it.
State Representative Bryan R. Lentz
161st Legislative District