Do we really need 253 men and women to adequately represent our interests in Harrisburg?Tammy goes on to recommend a Constitutional Convention, an idea that seems to be gaining momentum lately. I'd personally like to see two main changes to state government result from such a Convention.
That’s pretty much a rhetorical question, because we pretty much all know the answer.
Our legislature is the second-largest in the nation, surpassed only by the General Court of New Hampshire, with its 400 representatives and 24 senators, an amazing statistic from the independently-minded “live free or die” state. And in 2005, our members enjoyed the country’s second-highest base pay making Harrisburg’s the costliest state legislature per capita in the United States (though it’s worth that the state also has one of a only a few full-time legislatures, and on that list, our lawmakers’ salaries are near the bottom).
And what have all of those members and money gotten us? Not much, if last year’s lengthy budget impasse and the disturbing revelations of rampant, institutional and structural corruption coming out of the ongoing Bonusgate investigations are any indication (maybe when they were looking for places to trim the budget they should have looked a little closer to home).
First, we need fewer elected officials. Most people don't have a lot of time to pay close attention to politics, and currently there are just way too many elected officials to monitor. Pennsylvanians elect a Governor, a Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General, and Auditor General, a State Treasurer, a House representative, a state Senator, a district judge, and a Supreme Court justice.
In my view, it would be better to elect only a Governor, an Attorney General, and one state representative. This would make it much easier for people to know who to hold accountable at election time. At a minimum, we should switch to a unicameral legislature, which happens to be what William Penn originally designed. The election of judges, especially to the Supreme Court, needlessly introduces politics into a branch of government where it shouldn't exist. It's insane.
Second, we need to depoliticize redistricting by giving that responsibility to an independent commission. Politicians shouldn't choose their voters; voters should choose their politicians. The Republican gerrymandering fiasco of 2000 made elections much less competitive than they should be. A politician who doesn't think he's in danger of being unseated is an unaccountable politician.
What changes would you like to see come out of Constitutional Convention?
8 comments:
Hi Jon,
FYI New Hampshire's Reps make $200 per 2-year term, are part time legislators, have to hold real jobs, etc. And go figure, their unemployment rate is about 7% vs. states where full time legislators continually screw things up.
Seems to me this is the embodiment of citizen legislature, and all elected bodies including PA should emulate it.
On gerrymandering (which the Ds do too, just as ridiculously), I'd eliminate it completely and draw the lines by geography - county lines, and fix them, and be done with it.
Can't disagree more on judges - I can't think of a more political process for that than politicians sitting somewhere making decisions. Trust the people!
By the way, any thoughts on Charlie "Hell no I don't regret it" Rangel, Malcolm Smith and Greg Meeks? Sure seems like alot going on up in NY these days...
The Banker
I don't actually know much about quality of governance in NH. I support a well-paid full-time professional legislature. I want lots of professional development, and pay that's competitive with the private sector so we get the best people. But that's because we want different things out of government. You want smaller, less active government, and I want a well-run, more technocratic government that views policy more like science than horse-trading.
I don't want judges having to raise money from anyone, especially corporate PACs. I think that's the most corrupting part of the political process. Worse, to get political traction, they have to take partisan stands. That, in my view, is incompatible with the goal of judicial independence. I want a merit-based selection process. I think the state Bar Association should make recommendations for candidates, and the Governor would choose from that list.
I don't think I'd go with county lines from redistricting. It should still be population-based, but we need to avoid the practice of packing minorities into urban districts. A board of professional demographers would be best suited to drawing up fairer districts.
NY state government is far worse than PA state government, possibly the worst in the nation, or at least neck-in-neck with CA for that dubious distinction. The problem is decades of one-party rule (Ds in the Assembly, Rs in the Senate) and an uncompetitive election process. More NY legislators have died in office than have been unseated, to give you an idea. The jury's out on Malcolm Smith, but it's infuriating that Rangel and Meeks are still in office.
I don't normally like the idea of term limits, but I don't see any other way to change the NY legislature. It certainly couldn't make it any worse. Part of the reason Dems won in 2006 was the "culture of corruption" message and Jack Abramoff. They were right, but now they need to clean house in their own party. For the record, I also thought they should have kicked out Murtha, prior to his death.
Jon, I definitely want a smaller government, one in tune with the impact its decisions have. It is incredulous that Congress and State governments routinely exempts themselves from compliance with the laws they pass. We need legislators who know how the real world works rather than operating in their vacuum. The only way that happens is citizen legislators or term limits.
I wish it was only pay that kept the best people from running for office. Unfortunately the way the 'press' operates (both legitimate and other) really hampers things. Some of the smartest, most effective people I know won't run because they don't want to put themselves and their families through the unreasonable scrutiny. The Clintons worked hard and were very effective in keeping Chelsea out of it, and the Bush's too even though they had a tougher time given their girls had a bit of a wild streak. But in the overall sense of things, who gives a crap? We all were like that.
The problem with your solutions on using boards is they are subject to politics as well. That's exactly why I would continue to have judges elected - politicians make selections based on politics, and that would subject judges to influences more so then when running for their seats.
The Banker
I am all about the NH state legislature, it is by far my favorite set up in the country and I think more states should be modeled after it.
I know I posted this before, but NH's state legislature has demographics that match those of the state population more closely than any other state in the nation. I don't think those two things are coincidental.
I generally don't support the idea of professional politicians and would like to see less of them in my government. I don't buy the argument that professional politicians are any better at politics than any other smart, experienced, and personable individual would be, and I think that being a professional politician requires a level of well-connectedness or privileged background that excludes many otherwise qualified candidates from competing, or puts them at such a great disadvantage from a fundraising perspective that races are by their very nature rigged.
On that note, I also would like to say that I think that the amount of money Americans spend on campaign contributions through the various means available (and I'll include corporate money in this) is obscene, and I think campaigns are way less likely to cost $20 million if the job is a $200, 2-year volunteer gig.
Have a laugh on the author formerly known as the IRONPIGPEN.
"BUSH THE CHIMP PHOTO"
Go to the mostly-dormant site or google it. You'll find it easy enough and, enjoy.
I don't know if it is the size of the legislature that is the problem but this is a broken system and it is broken in every state and at every level.
Local Boro,city and townships councils don't work. School boards are a clusterfuck, county councils are not working, State Legislature function poorly, congress is beyond broken.
For every capable Bob Freeman that is elected there is a Lisa Boscola elected.
Maybe we need a dictatorship for awhile. I am offering my services.
"For every capable Bob Freeman that is elected there is a Lisa Boscola elected."
Burn!
I read the Wikipedia page on the NH legislature, and I have mixed feelings and some questions. Who is responsible for drafting policy? It seems like the Gov and Executive Council have a lot of power to craft policy. If that's the case, and policy is being drafted by professionals well-versed in the relevant subject area, that's exactly what I want. I'm perfectly fine with a volunteer citizen legislature if they're more or less giving a Yes or No vote, like in Parliament. That's really my preferred model for the US House and Senate. The brain wattage of the average member of the US House is decidedly low. I would imagine it's even worse in state government. That's what I meant when I said I want professional politicians. Not people who are good at politics, but people who have at least an intermediate understanding of basic economics and curiosity about public policy ideas. I like competitive salaries for legislators, because you get what you pay for. Paying nothing, as NH does, sends a message that this is work that has literally no value. I think that drastically undervalues the importance of good policy.
The thing I most dislike about the NH legislature is this, from Wikipedia:
"The most typical way to afford the time and cost of being a legislator is to be retired; a 2007 survey found that nearly half the members of the House are retired, with an average age over 60."
That's a demographic deal-breaker for me. There's just no way that legislature is going to be as responsive as it should be to the interests of younger people. It's impolite, but I also don't think it would be inappropriate to stipulate a maximum age for representatives. In fact, NH sets a maximum age of 70 for Supreme Court justices.
And on that note, NH Supreme Court justices are appointed by the Governor and Executive Council. The justices then appoint judges to the lower courts. I think that sounds like a good system. It's obviously impossible to take party politics out of the process. In my view, the campaign phase of the political process is a worse corrupting force than what happens during a rep's term in office. I'd rather have judges' jobs be complicated with things like fundraising and building political coalitions of interest groups.
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