Scarnati Tells PA Senate to Let Voters Decide on Government Downsizing

The sponsor of a bill to reduce the size of all three branches of Pennsylvania state government wants the question to be settled by voters, the Patriot-News reports:

Senate Bill 324 proposes a constitutional amendment that would let voters decide to cut the 50-member Senate to 45 members, eliminate four seats on the 15-seat Superior Court bench, reduce the seven-member Supreme Court by two members, and eliminate the lieutenant governor’s position.

“Who are we to sit here and say we need all this?” Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati said in an impassioned speech at Monday’s Senate Appropriations Committee, which voted 18-8 to advance the legislation to the full Senate for consideration. “Let’s have a debate.”

A vote by the full Senate could occur this week.