The Missouri Legislature is a laboratory for bad ideas. Lowlights of the current session include the repeal of the voters' decision to make dog breeding a little less feces-smeared and the agenda of state Sen. Jane Cunningham, who showed up in Jeff City with a strange determination to eliminate child-labor laws.
Hope is not lost. Lawmakers are considering a proposal to downsize the Missouri House. In addition to saving money, thinning the herd of lawmakers would appear to offer the added bonus of reducing the number of bills that make Missouri look like Bumpkinsville, USA.
A measure to cut the number of the House seats from 163 seats to 103 has passed a Senate committee. Lawmakers are open to the idea because it won't affect them. The culling would not take place until after the 2020 Census, by which time the House would have all new members because of term limits.
The proposal has bipartisan support. Democrats want to put the measure on the ballot. According to the AP, Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, the Republican most likely to take on Gov. Jay Nixon in 2012, supports the notion of removing 60 chair-and-desk sets from the House chamber.
It may be a gamble to think that a hard-core game of musical chairs would raise the level of debate in Jeff City. Getting there requires a belief that, in some instances, crowds get less wise as they get larger.
But, hey, a House with 103 representatives would at least be cheaper to operate. It's estimated that the one-time lawmaker layoff would save the state $4.7 million a year.
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