Toward a smaller Harrisburg

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, May, 2007 | by Mario F. Cattabiani Inquirer Staff Writer

HARRISBURG - In a vote some are calling historic, a state Senate panel yesterday approved a bill to trim the size of the General Assembly despite some pointed misgivings.

"There is a general feeling that the size is too large. The question is what size do we settle on?" said Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola (R., Dauphin), chairman of the State Government Committee, moments after it voted 8-3 for the bill that would ax one in five legislative seats.

The last time the legislature's ranks were trimmed was in 1968 when a rewritten state Constitution stripped six seats from the House.

Longtime political observers say that not since then has the proposal - introduced periodically in some fashion over the course of...