Amendments propose to cut Mo. House size by one-third

Members of the Missouri House of Representatives give House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, left, a standing ovation following his opening day remarks. Photo by Kelley McCall.

By Bob Watson

Sunday, January 8, 2012

At 163 seats, Missouri’s House of Representatives is the nation’s fourth largest state House.

“Certainly, after serving in that body for six years, and serving (about) 35,000 constituents, I think it’s very manageable for a representative to represent around 50,000 people,” said state Sen. Jim Lembke, R-Lemay, who’s planning to introduce this week a constitutional amendment proposal to cut the Missouri House to 103 seats.

“It would save the taxpayers about $5 million a year, and, I think, we’re in the mode of restructuring state government in Missouri because of our current budget crisis.”

Although Missouri’s House is the nation’s fourth largest, the state Senate’s 34 members ranks 36th among the states. So, the Legislature’s total size ranks seventh in the nation.

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Based on the 2010 Census, Missouri is the 18th largest state. And, when looking at the ratio of lawmakers to population, Missouri’s 30,401 people for each of the 197 state lawmakers ranks Missouri 24th.

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two_cents_worth 1 year, 4 months ago

So, instead of having a host of rookie legislators who don't know what they're doing, we'll have far less rookie legislators who don't know what they're doing.

Brilliant!

I call shenanigans on that savings projection as well...Since there will be fewer legislators, they will increase their budget and raise their pay to accommodate the 'increased workload'...5 million dollars in savings for 60 legislators?

In your dreams!