Ever visit one of the unfortunate Democratic state reps with Mezzanine offices in the Missouri Capitol? You turn sideways to get past the staff desks, then scooch into the offices. The ones on the end are so small a full size office desk won’t fit. And, it helps to be less than five feet tall if you get one of the end spaces.
The Capitol just isn’t big enough for 197 elected senators and representatives, plus their support staff, and the other elected officials. That leaves many members of the minority party with tiny Mezzanine spaces, or, converted storage rooms without windows or airflow.
Here’s a solution: reduce the number of state representatives from 163 to 102. Plus, make each House district one-third of a Senate district (34 x 3 = 102). That frees-up room in the Capitol, makes the scheme of representation more logical, and, saves millions of dollars a year on overhead.
As I’ve covered before, Missouri’s state rep to voter ratio – about 37,400 : 1 – runs low. Yes, Kansas is still lower (23,300 : 1) yet, Illinois (108,000 : 1) and Indiana (66,900 : 1) reps seem to satisfy their constituents. With 102 state reps Missouri’s new ratio would be 60,000 : 1. (By the way, it’s 494,000 : 1 in California.)
And, Illinois, Indiana and California have ratios of 2 representatives to each senator, compared to Missouri’s current 4.79 : 1! By that standard Missouri would still be better represented than many other states.
Here’s another reason for a reduction.
The portion of Missouri representatives from the Democratic party is much lower than the proportion of Democrats in the state. Through creative, ‘good enough’ redistricting the Republicans have managed to bend a number of districts into their camp. If the number of districts were less it would be harder to isolate Democratic voters. The end result? Democrats may not be the majority party in the Capitol for a while but the blue portion of districts would climb from less than 30% to 40% or a tad higher. In other words, getting closer to the purple state we really are.
Now, a look at the current state representative district maps does point to a kinda problem. Several House districts now include all of four or up to parts of six counties, meaning a possible 100 miles between a rep’s home and a voter’s. That’s understandable when Worth County (near Iowa and Nebraska) holds barely 2,000 residents and several other rural counties have way less than 10,000 people. If my quick math is right, one district just below the Iowa border might grow to 10 counites in my new system.
Still, America is big on this ‘one person, one vote’ thing. Perhaps the answer for Worth County and friends, then, lies in a classic song…
Don’t be angry, don’t be sad
Don’t sit crying over good times you’ve had
There’s a girl right next to you
And she’s just waiting for something to do
Love the one you’re with, Love the one you’re with,
Love the one you’re with, Love the one you’re with,
Love The One You’re With, Stephen Stills
Put that on Muzak in northern Missouri high schools, and, well, thanks to our state’s virtually non-existent criteria for sex education those population numbers may start to quickly increase.
Remember, Missouri voters have approved several radical ideas – a higher minimum wage, Medicaid Expansion, honest redistricting among them. Saving money with a moderate reduction in the number of state representatives I bet would fly.
Let’s talk this up. Think of all the Democratic reps who would love an office with a real window.
Glenn