×

Unlikely to provide relief

The proposal by James Orr in his Jan. 21 letter to cut the number of Pennsylvania state legislators is unlikely to provide any long-term relief to taxpayers, and would instead undermine legislator accountability.

Programmed expenses for our state legislators will continue to increase, absent reforms.

Fewer legislators in larger districts would be less accountable to the voters. A smaller legislature would also undercut the voice of Pennsylvania’s rural regions, and increase that of the state’s big cities, already disproportionately large.

A better way to reduce Legislative Branch cost would be to limit staff size, reduce or eliminate per diems, recalculate the COLA, and require legislators to pay for health and other benefits they now get for free. Absent such reforms, the cost of any number of legislators will continue to increase.

One additional change might help. To counter long-term annual increases in legislator salaries and benefits, implement term limits.

Shorter terms would be cheaper than decades-long ones, and would likely have other benefits for the public as well.

John Turner

Hughesville

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today