Opinion |

Part-time Legislature, full-time efficiency

During the two months that the “full-time” state House managed not to meet early this year, legislatures in several other states wrapped up their business – for the year.

As Republican Rep. Paul Schemel of Franklin County recently put it: “My district in southern Franklin County borders the Mason-Dixon line, and many of my constituents rightly point out that the Maryland General Assembly has already accomplished its work for the entire year. … Pennsylvania has not even gotten started. What a colossal waste of both time and money.”

Schemel plans to introduce a constitutional amendment to end Pennsylvania’s status as one of just 10 states with a full-time Legislature, and replacing it with a part-time body. It’s a worthy, if symbolic effort, destined for the same wastebasket where far less ambitious reform ideas, such as reducing the size of the bloated full-time Legislature, have been filed.

It’s a good idea in terms of cost alone. The Legislative Audit Advisory Commission recently filed its annual statement, finding that the Legislature’s operational spending for the fiscal year that ended June 30 totaled $392 million, an increase of $12 million over the previous year.

That amount is certain to climb during this fiscal year because of a massive pay raise (7.8%, $7,400) that the 203 representatives and 50 senators awarded themselves in December under an automatic cost-of-living adjustment tied to an inflation index, without so much as a motion or a vote. In December 2021, the lawmakers gave themselves an automatic 5.6% increase. Legislators also are eligible for a daily expense payment of $181 when they are in Harrisburg, for which they are not required to produce expense receipts.

The base pay for each legislator is now $102,844. Schemel’s proposal would reduce their part-time pay to $25,000.

But the greater impact would be on performance. As Schemel noted, many other legislatures have completed their work for the year while Pennsylvania’s has done little. Clearly, the part-time structure creates pressure to produce.

There is little doubt that most Pennsylvanians would embrace the opportunity to vote “yes” to create a part-time Legislature, which is why full-time legislators will ensure that voters never have the opportunity.