May 14, 2007 3 min read

Anger over the aborted legislative pay grab of a couple of years ago is starting to pay off. On Tuesday, the Senate’s State Government Committee approved four measures to amend the state constitution that would have been unimaginable two years ago. The Associated Press reported the panel approved (8-3) and sent to the full Senate a bill that would cut the Legislature from 253 to 201 members. (The current setup has 203 representatives and 50 senators.)

Committee members also voted unanimously to forward three other proposed changes to the constitution. One would prohibit legislative votes in the so-called lame-duck period after the November general election in even-numbered years, when legislative elections are held.

Another would have the governor appoint a successor to fill a vacancy in the lieutenant governor’s office. Under current law, the post is automatically filled by the Senate’s president pro tempore, who can continue to serve in that chamber.

Each of these measures is a no-brainer.

The same can’t be said for the third measure that passed unanimously. The AP reported that bill would allow the five-member commission that redraws the boundaries of state legislative districts every 10 years to also reshape congressional districts.

The bipartisan panel is made up of the four party leaders in the state Legislature and an impartial fifth member. Currently, state law dictates that the boundaries of congressional districts must be approved by the full Legislature.

Politics needs to be taken out of redistricting, and having the four party leaders involved in the process is no way to do that. It would be far better if boundaries for legislative and congressional districts were drawn by an independent panel.

One reform that didn’t make it out of committee was no great loss. Committee members voted 9-2 against a bill that would have imposed term limits. There simply is no need for term limits because voters have the power to impose them every two or four years – as they did in last year’s legislative elections.

One reason there are more than 50 new members of the House and Senate this session is because voter anger scared a number of lawmakers into retirement while others were beaten at the polls.

It’s still too early to celebrate, though, because these proposals must make it though the House and Senate. One way to make sure they do that is for Pennsylvania residents to keep applying pressure on lawmakers to change their ways.

Don’t stop now. Your anger finally is starting to pay dividends.