MO Lawmaker Proposes Reducing Size of House

A Missouri state lawmaker that’s proposing a constitutional amendment that would reduce the size of the Missouri House from 163 to 120, and would increase the State Senate from 34 to 40.

Republican Rep. Travis Fitzwater told his colleagues that reducing the House by 43 seats will save a lot of money.

“But I think it would reduce I think in the order of a million-and-a-half, two million, maybe two-and-a-half, three million (dollars) a year in costs to the state by reducing the Legislature by this amount.”

Fitzwater says this is about reducing the size of government, adding that Missouri has the seventh-largest Legislature in the nation.

“We are by far the largest Legislature by our surrounding states, even Illinois has 20 fewer legislators than we do.”

If lawmakers approve the measure, Missourians would vote on the proposed constitutional amendment in November 2020..