EXPANDING THE HOUSE: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS THE NYTIMES AND PETER BAKER BY FOUR YEARS

NYTIMES/PETER BAKER TODAY:

The most populous district in America right now, according to the latest Census data, is Nevada’s 3rd District, where 960,000 people are represented in the House by just one member. All of Montana’s 958,000 people likewise have just one vote in the House. By contrast, 523,000 in Wyoming get the same voting power, as do the 527,000 in one of Rhode Island’s two districts and the 531,000 in the other.

That 400,000-person disparity between top and bottom has generated a federal court challenge that is set to be filed Thursday in Mississippi, charging that the system effectively disenfranchises people in certain states. The lawsuit asks the courts to order the House to fix the problem by increasing its size from 435 seats to at least 932, or perhaps as many as 1,761. That way, the plaintiffs argue, every state can have districts that are close to parity.

... The issue traces back to the founding of the country. The Constitution stipulated that every 10 years, the House should be reapportioned so that each state had at lease one representative and that no Congressional district contained fewer than 30,000 people. But it was left to Congress to decide how many total House seats there should be.

The original House had 65 representatives, one for every 33,000 people. As the country’s population grew over the next century, so did the size of the House, until it reached 435 in 1911, when each member at that time representing an average of 212,000 people.

But Congress refused to reapportion after the 1920 Census, as a wave of immigration threatened to shift voting power from the South and Midwest to the urban Northeast. Eventually, Congress voted to keep the House at 435 seats regardless of rising population. Except for a brief period when it enlarged to 437 because Alaska and Hawaii had joined the union with one seat each, the House has remained at 435 ever since.

... To mount the legal challenge that is being filed on Thursday, Mr. Scharpen recruited Michael P. Farris, a prominent conservative constitutional lawyer and chairman of the Home School Legal Defense Association. Together they recruited plaintiffs in five states that were relatively underrepresented after the 2000 Census — Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Delaware and Utah — and named as defendants the census director, the commerce secretary and clerk of the House.

Mr. Scharpen and Mr. Farris noted that some foreign parliaments are significantly larger than the United States House of Representatives — the House of Commons in Britain and the Bundestag in Germany each have more than 600 seats with each member serving a much smaller population. If there were more representatives serving smaller districts, they argued, each would not have to raise as much campaign money and could be more attentive to fewer constituents.

“It’ll be better government,” Mr. Farris said. “The proportional size of our government is not consistent with other western democracies.”

ROUND UP OF OTHERS NOTICING THE ISSUE HERE.

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS NOTICED THIS ISSUE YEARS AGO - EVEN BEFORE ANY OF THE LAWYERS IN THE CASE!

TAB - IN 2005 AND AGAIN IN 2007 - AND WE WERE SERIOUS ABOUT THE IDEA:

Sunday, October 07, 2007

A SIMPLE IDEA TO MAKE AMERICA'S GOVERNMENT EVEN MORE REPRESENTATIVE AND RESPONSIVE

Glenn links to a review of the new Larry Sabato book which recommends 23 - YUP TWENTY-THREE! - amendments to the Constitution.

One wonders why Sabato doesn't just throw it out - like Chavez - and start from scratch!

I have a simple idea which would improve both the responsiveness and representativeness of the federal government, and it would NOT require a single solitary change to the Constitution!

I would INCREASE the number of Representatives in the House to 600.

I would assign the new seats by using the US DECENNIAL CENSUS figures - exactly the purpose for which the Census was designed and put into the Constitution by the Framers.

These new seats would not be attached to an incumbent of any party and would therefore be open seats more readily contested fairly - (since incumbents have great electoral advantages and are returned to office so frequently).

Having more Representatives would make each district smaller and reduce the committee responsibilities of each representative and thereby allow her/him to do more constituent work - BE MORE RESPONSIVE.

The number of representatives was capped -BY STATUTE - in 1929:

The Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929 capped the Membership at that level, creating a procedure for reapportioning state delegations in the House under “the then existing number of Representatives” (see Act of June 18, 1929, ch. 28, 46 Stat 21).

It can be undone by statute. A simple majority vote by each body of Congress and a signature by the POTUS.

A body with 600 members is much more manageable now than a body with 420 in 1929. Many representative bodies in the USA and around the world have 600 members and function fine.

This change would also have the added benefit of making the electoral college more representative and more accurately reflect the wishes of the people.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 8:46 AM ; Permalink; 2 Comments; Links to this post;

Friday, December 02, 2005

DECENNIAL RE-APPORTIONMENT AND THE CENSUS

POLIBLOGGER posted on an article by FRUITS AND VOTES. F&V suggested we expand the House of Representatives and make it more representative and responsive and districts more equal in population size by using "THE WYOMING RULE": Under the ‘Wyoming Rule,’ the standard Representative-to-population ratio would be that of the smallest entitled unit–i.e. currently Wyoming. (Poliblogger rans the numbers.) I AGREE: we need MORE Reps. But maybe not that many. Here're my thoughts:

(1) The US CENSUS was specifically designed to allow for the ORDERLY EXPANSION of the House so that districts would be equal in size, and the number of districts would expand as the population expanded.

(2) The problem is that since 1920, the number of districts has been frozen at 435. This was done by an ACT OF CONGRESS; it can be undone by an ACT OF CONGRESS, too. It doesn’t require a constitutional amendment.

(3) Since 1920, every decennial census has led MERELY TO RE-APPORTIONMENT: changes/shifts of Reps withing the 435. Some states get more Representatives other states get theirs reduced. Sometimes a state which has grown in population may have their number or Reps reduced because all states must have at least one Rep.

(4) The total number of Reps in the House could be and should be expanded - if not by the "Wyoming Plan" how about just increasing the number od reps in the House to a NICE ROUND NUMBER: 500 - by adding an additional 65 seats. (I think that 500 has a nice ring to it - especially for a nation of 50 states!) These could be/would be apportioned by population. Every ten years we dicide the population by 500 and distribute the seats accordingly.

(5) Average district size would be each smaller - and more representative, AS THE FOUNDERS ORIGINALLY PLANNED. More Reps would mean fewer committee assignments for each Rep and more constituent time. (Also, the advent and pervasiveness of hi-tech communications makes the management of a larger House less encumbering than in 1920, or since 1920. In fact, MANY national and state legislatures all over the world have many more mebers than we do and are larger than a mere 435. If they can mange it, then so can we.)

(6) As these 65 NEW SEATS would ALL BE OPEN SEATS, they’d be VERY competitive races at a time when most seats are NOT COMPETITIVE. That’s a good thing too. This would be A NEW BIRTH OF REPRESENTATION, which would NOT make government bigger, but make it MORE RESPONSIVE AND MORE REPRESENTATIVE.

ALSO: (7) This would change the ELECTORAL COLLEGE - making it even more reflective of the population.

I DARE A BRAVE CONGRESSMAN TO INTRODUCE THIS. It should get BI-PARTISAN SUPPORT, becasue open seats are VERY COMPETITIVE, and the GOP is VERY COMPETITIVE in the CITIES AND COUNTIES which have had the most growth.

- Posted by Reliapundit @ 5:22 PM ; Permalink; 22 Comments; Links to this post;

BOTTOM-LNE: The number of representatives was capped -BY STATUTE - in 1929; therefore, it can be undone by statute.

• DOING IT WOULD UNSETTLE INCUMBENCY AND CREATE A REBIRTH REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT.
• THERE IS NO DOWNSIDE.
• THE COUNTIES IN STATES WHICH HAVE HAD INCREASES IN POPULATION WOULD GET MORE SEATS.

[ER UM.... YES: THEY'RE MOSTLY RED STATES.... AND GEE: I WONDER WHY!? COULD IT BE THAT BLUE POLICIES OF HIGH TAXES AND LOW STANDARDS HAS CREATED HIGH CRIME/LOW PROFIT COUNTIES?! YES.]
- Posted by Reliapundit @ 6:44 PM ; Permalink;

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