There’s been talk of shrinking the state Legislature for years, and we’re sure that talk will continue for years to come given that Pennsylvania’s statehouse is the largest in the nation.

Pennsylvania is one of 10 states that has a full-time legislature, and its 253-member legislature is the largest in the country. While the General Assembly meets nearly every month of the year in Harrisburg, the legislature takes lengthy recesses and votes a few times a month. Actual session days are about the same as states with part-time legislatures like New York, though some legislative committees or legislative hearings are held on non-voting days.

In reality there are two ways to decrease the cost of legislating in Pennsylvania: either shrink the legislature or make it part-time. There are proposals to do both in the legislature, not that we expect Republicans or Democrats to actually do anything with them. Why would they? The current system is great for sitting legislators who collect full-time pay and benefits.

Saving money and being more efficient are important, but there is a downside to shrinking the legislature that state residents should remember. Every time the size of the legislature is reduced, rural representation suffers. Because the state’s biggest cities are either growing or have more stable population than rural areas like Warren, Forest and Elk counties, the metro areas will always have more legislative authority. That happens now, of course, but there are enough rural legislators in the state House of Representatives to make sure rural needs are represented in Harrisburg. That won’t be the case if the House of Representatives is cut by 100 or 150 members as proposed in some legislative downsizing proposals. Cutting that much from the state House of Representatives could lead to House districts that look like U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson’s district which, pardon the hyperbole, is roughly the size of Rhode Island.

That’s why we prefer a part-time legislature with roughly the same number of lawmakers rather than simply shrinking the legislature. Rural areas should have a voice in Harrisburg. That voice, in our opinion, would be squelched by the chorus of legislators from Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia if we simply shrank the legislature.

A part-time legislature — at part-time pay and benefits — is a better bet for those who want to bring the state Legislature’s costs more in line with its productivity.