Several state legislatures on the chopping block

March 8, 2011

By Tyler Millhouse

In the face of present deficits and looming liabilities, many states are looking to trim programs and reduce waste. However, several states are considering measures that would reduce the size of state legislatures in order to save funds and improve efficiency. Of course, these measures come at the cost of reducing representation and combining diverse local communities into single districts. Regardless, states have a special opportunity in 2011 to combine these efforts with 2010 Census redistricting, avoiding an additional round of contentious remapping. The following states are considering reducing the size of their state legislatures:

• Kansas: Sen. Chris Steineger (R) has introduced a bill, SB203, to reduce the number of state senators from 40 to 30 and the number of state representatives from 125 to 90.

• Maine: In late January, a member of the state's House of Representatives, Portland Democrat John Hinck, proposed LD 153 (alternately HP 136), which would shrink both the House and the Maine State Senate. The two chambers, currently seating 151 and 35 members, respectively, would be trimmed to 101 and 23, respectively.

• Minnesota: Bills to reduce the size of the Minnesota Legislature have been introduced in both state chambers. The bills would reduce the size of the Minnesota State Senate from 67 to 56 seats and reduce the size of the Minnesota house from 134 seats to 114 seats. The bills, HF0029 and SF 419, have received bi-partisan support.

• Nebraska: Cedar Rapids Senator Kate Sullivan introduced a bill, LB 195, to add a Senate seat, taking advantage of a law that allows the chamber to cap out at 50 members. A competing bill, LB 233, would cut the number of seats from 49 down to 45.

• Pennsylvania: During the 2009-2010 session, Senator Elder Vogel (R) introduced legislation, SB 684, to slash the Pennsylvania State Senate from 50 to 30 members and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 203 to 121 members. The bill has not yet been reintroduced in the 2010-2011 legislative session.

Others states are considering different options. Intended to increase efficiency or improve representation, these plans range from reducing the number of counties to creating single member districts. States considering alternative plans include:

• Kansas: The Senate Ways and Means Committee introduced legislation that would reduce the number of Kansas counties from 105 to 23. The bill, championed by Sen. Chris Steineger (R), is designed to strengthen counties and improve efficiency. A Wichita State University study has found that such a consolidation could result in hundreds of millions in yearly savings.

• New Hampshire: A 2006 ballot initiative will allow New Hampshire lawmakers to divide several towns into individual legislative districts. This process would eliminate multi-member, at-large elections for those municipalities. The New Hampshire House of Representatives has some districts with as many as 13 representatives.

• West Virginia: Currently, West Virginia elects 100 representatives from 58 districts to the West Virginia House of Delegates. Daryl Cowles (R) has introduced legislation which would mandate 100 single-member legislative districts for the House. Acting Senate President Jeffrey Kessler (D), House Minority Leader Tim Armstead (R) and Representative Marty Gearheart (R) have voiced support for the concept of single-member districts.

While changes to the structure of state representation seem drastic, they are far from unprecedented. Most notably, Nebraska eliminated an entire chamber during the Great Depression to save scarce revenue, remaining unicameral since. A number of such changes were also made in the 1960s and 1970s. More recently, Idaho, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Wyoming reduced the size of their legislatures. While it seems unlikely that legislators will vote to jeopardize their own jobs, the desire to streamline the legislative process and right state budgets may win the day. Still, many worry that the changes, fiscally sound or otherwise, will increase the role of full-time politicians and decrease true community representation.

State representation around the country

The states below have the highest ratio of senators to residents in the nation. In other words, each senator represents the small contingent of voters. Although residents of smaller states tend to enjoy higher representation because of their lower populations, states like Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and North Dakota also have large chambers in absolute terms.

Top Five States by Senate Representation
State	Population	Senators	Pop./Senator
North Dakota	672,591	47	14,310
Wyoming	563,626	30	18,788
Montana	989,415	50	19,788
Vermont	625,741	30	20,858
South Dakota	814,180	35	23,262

Top Five States by House Representation
State	Population	Representatives	Pop./Rep.
New Hampshire	1,316,470	400	3,291
Vermont	625,741	150	4,172
North Dakota	672,591	94	7,155
Maine	1,328,361	153	8,682
Wyoming	563,626	60	9,394

Chamber membership around the nation

The following states have the largest legislatures in absolute terms. Although the size of state chambers tracks loosely with state population, both Mississippi and New Hampshire are among the nation's smaller states.

Top Five States by Senate Membership
State	Population	Senators
Minnesota	5,303,925	67
New York	19,378,102	62
Illinois	12,830,632	59
Georgia	9,687,653	56
Mississippi	2,967,297	52

Top Five States by House Membership
State	Population	Representatives
New Hampshire	1,316,470	400
Pennsylvania	12,702,379	203
Georgia	9,687,653	180
Missouri	5,988,927	163
Massachusetts	6,547,629	160

External links

• State Legislative and Congressional Redistricting after the 2010 Census
• Redistricting in Kansas
• Redistricting in Maine
• Redistricting in Minnesota
• Redistricting in Nebraska
• Redistricting in Pennsylvania
• Redistricting in New Hampshire
• Redistricting in West Virginia