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Government Spending

Trimming the Size of the Maine Legislature

Consolidation is supposed to save Maine money. So Governor John Baldacci suggests reducing the number of school districts, the number of administrative agencies, and the number of jails. But why stop there? The case can be made that there is one other public entity with too many people: the legislature.

The Maine statehouse currently has 35 senators and 151 representatives. The total of 186 legislators ranks Maine 10th among the 50 states, even though Maine is 40th in population. The nationwide average is over 40,000 citizens for each state legislator; in Maine the number is 7,081. Only five states have fewer citizens per legislator, and four of those have populations of less than a million (Vermont, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana). New Hampshire has about the same population as Maine, but a huge legislature of 424 members, further proof that Granite Staters are way different.

One last tidbit. Maine has five more legislators than Texas with only 5.5% of the population. I ask again: how many do we need?

The number of legislators is set by the Maine Constitution. An amendment would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate as well as a majority vote in a statewide election. A year ago Representative Edward Finch (D-Fairfield) submitted a bill, LD 1552, to reduce the the number of representatives to 105. On May 22, however, the House voted 79-60 not to advance the bill, and Senate concurrence killed it. The House vote broke along party lines. Democrats, eager to preserve their majority, lined up 73-11 against the bill under the presumption that what is best for the party is best for Maine.

How much would LD 1552 have saved Maine? Reducing the headcount by 46 in the House, by Finch's reckoning, would save almost $2 million annually in salaries and per diem allowances. I would add another $900,000 every two years in public campaign financing.

UPDATE, 05-06-2009:   Maine Representatives voted overwhelmingly today to reduce the size of the House to 131, effective with the 2012 election.  Despite a committee recommendation against it, the downsizing bill, introduced by Patrick Flood (R-Winthrop),  passed the full House by nearly  a 100-vote margin (coverage here).   Further approval by the Senate and the Governor would put the initiative on the November ballot for taxpayer approval.  (Full text.)