Is it time to increase the number of members in the US House of representatives?

[g5000]

We need fewer not more and they need to be part time not every day. Also their pay should be cut.

They already work part time. Congress is in session less than half the year.

The House works an average of two days a week.

 

[g5000]

The only reason I see for increasing it is to make the electoral college more representative of what the founding fathers envisioned. But I believe there is a better means to that end by no longer giving each seat in the house an equal weight.

That would defeat the entire purpose of a bicameral legislature.

 

[sealybobo]

The Case for Enlarging the House of Representatives

The Bill of Rights was originally going to be 12 Amendments instead of 10. James Madison wanted the First Amendment to be a formula for apportioning the House of Representatives.* If his Amendment had been accepted, the House would currently have 1,625 members instead of 435. Instead, the...

www.usmessageboard.com

Why do they need more House members? How about cut their pay in half and make it a part time position?

I looked up "can members of congress have other jobs?" and found this

Under the Ethics Reform Act, Members and senior staff are prohibited from engaging in professions that provide services involving a fiduciary relationship, including the practice of law and the sale of insurance or real estate.

Real Estate? Shouldn't that exclude Trump from running?

 

[sealybobo]

The UK has a population of 67 million and there are 650 MPs in the House of Commons.

New Hampshire has a population of 1.36 million and there are 400 representatives in their lower chamber.

Conversely, California has a population of 39.5 million and only 80 representatives in their lower chamber.

Kentucky has 6 goobers in the House of Reps.

 

[g5000]

A Congress member doesn't have time to represent anyone. He's busy making money in order to build his mansion and get a private jet.

The very reason they are able to grift is because they each represent too many people. If House members represented less people, they would be more accountable.

 

[g5000]

Kentucky has 6 goobers in the House of Reps.

That's at the federal level. The numbers I gave in that post for New Hampshire and California are for the state level representatives.

Kentucky has 100 representatives in the state house for a population of 4.5 million.

 

[g5000]

The Bill of Rights was originally going to be 12 Amendments instead of 10.

James Madison wanted the First Amendment to be a formula for apportioning the House of Representatives.* If his Amendment had been accepted, the House would currently have 1,625 members instead of 435.

Instead, the ratio of one House member for every 30,000 constituents was enshrined in the Constitution. By 1800, it was 34,609 constituents per. By 1900, it was 193,167 per.

In 1929, Congress froze the number of Representatives at 435, even though we had only 48 states and a population of 121 million at the time.

Today, with 50 states and frozen at 435 representatives, the ratio is 762,000 constituents per House member, and climbing.

Our Representatives are completely out of touch with the People.

It is time to rethink apportionment.

Lots of stuff to think about here: The Case for Enlarging the House of Representatives


*The second of the 12 amendments proposed later became the 27th Amendment.

 

[Pellinore]

Is it time to increase the number of members in the US House of representatives?

The U.S. House of Representatives has one voting member for every 747,000 or so Americans in 2023.

The U.S. House of Representatives has one voting member for every 250,000 or so Americans in 1923.

Can a congress member represent 750,000 people effectively?

Let's see if we can get them to handle the bare bones first — electing a Speaker, for example — before we think about tripling its size.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

I am good with having more members as long as we put it back to a part time job with part time pay and no life long benefits tied to being a member of the House.

 

[g5000]

I am good with having more members as long as we put it back to a part time job with part time pay and no life long benefits tied to being a member of the House.

It's already a part time job.

House members work an average of two days a week.

They actually spend more time raising campaign cash for themselves and their parties than they do working.

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

Is it time to increase the number of members in the US House of representatives?
The U.S. House of Representatives has one voting member for every 747,000 or so Americans in 2023.
The U.S. House of Representatives has one voting member for every 250,000 or so Americans in 1923.
Can a congress member represent 750,000 people effectively?

With the deadlocked House made even more disfunctional by the internal incompetence and Civil War reigning within the slight Republican majority, the last thing we need is more representatives pursuing narrower special interests and grandstanding to extremist majorities in “Red” or “Blue” districts.

What we need are electoral reforms that will help elect leaders who reflect the majority of common sense voters on all sides of the party divide, and independents. Right now politicians who are outside the two party system, even proven responsible leaders able to think out of the box, have no chance, but hucksters and professional demagogues do.

We can start by combining Congressional Districts and choosing proportionally winners in Ranked Choice Voting elections, as had been suggested by www.FairVote.org .

 

[Harpy Eagle]

It's already a part time job.

House members work an average of two days a week.

They actually spend more time raising campaign cash for themselves and their parties than they do working.

but they are paid as if it is a full time job.

That needs to end.

 

[g5000]

but they are paid as if it is a full time job.

That needs to end.

Considering what we pay baseball players, Congressional pay is a slave wage.

Congresscritters have to maintain two homes. One in their districts, and one in DC. And DC is not cheap.

Some freshman congressman bunk together and share rent, and some sleep in their offices.

It's not the highly paid job most people think it is.

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

Indeed, an even easier reform could come from instituting a Ranked Choice Vote for Speaker of the House:

The “Motion to Vacate” and Electoral Incentives - FairVote

How electoral incentives lead to Kevin McCarthy’s removal, and how ranked choice voting could help Congress function

fairvote.org

 

[sealybobo]

The Bill of Rights was originally going to be 12 Amendments instead of 10.

James Madison wanted the First Amendment to be a formula for apportioning the House of Representatives.* If his Amendment had been accepted, the House would currently have 1,625 members instead of 435.

Instead, the ratio of one House member for every 30,000 constituents was enshrined in the Constitution. By 1800, it was 34,609 constituents per. By 1900, it was 193,167 per.

In 1929, Congress froze the number of Representatives at 435, even though we had only 48 states and a population of 121 million at the time.

Today, with 50 states and frozen at 435 representatives, the ratio is 762,000 constituents per House member, and climbing.

Our Representatives are completely out of touch with the People.

It is time to rethink apportionment.

Lots of stuff to think about here: The Case for Enlarging the House of Representatives


*The second of the 12 amendments proposed later became the 27th Amendment.

Michigan was so Gerrymandered. Republicans controlled both houses even though we were a blue state. Finally we got gerrymandering put on the ballot and we got a Democratic governor and we are not being more properly represented.

Beginning in the 2020 redistricting cycle, Michigan's state legislative and congressional districts will be drawn by a 13-member Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.

• The membership must include four members of each major party and five who are not affiliated with either. 60 applicants from each major party and 80 unaffiliated with either were selected through a statistically-weighted random drawing to ensure demographic and geographic diversity. Half of each pool must also consist of applicants who received a randomly mailed paper application. The four legislative leaders can then strike up to five applicants each for a total of 20. From this final list, 13 are randomly selected.

 

[g5000]

While there is no official tally of the number of House hobos who turn their offices into makeshift bedrooms, interviews with members and several Post stakeouts of the congressional gym — where the live-in lawmakers shower — put the estimate at around 100 representatives, or more than one-fifth of the governing body. Publicly, about 50 members have ‘fessed up to it.

‘I can’t afford an apartment’: Congressmen sleeping in offices cry poverty

WASHINGTON — These Congress members are sleeping on the job — and defending their right to do it. Crying poverty amid decade-long stagnant salaries and Washington’s steep cost of living, an increas…

nypost.com

 

[sealybobo]

Considering what we pay baseball players, Congressional pay is a slave wage.

Congresscritters have to maintain two homes. One in their districts, and one in DC. And DC is not cheap.

Some freshman congressman bunk together and share rent, and some sleep in their offices.

It's not the highly paid job most people think it is.

Make it a part time gig. Clearly they can get it done in half the time they take now.

 

[BackAgain]

Is it time to increase the number of members in the US House of representatives?

The U.S. House of Representatives has one voting member for every 747,000 or so Americans in 2023.

The U.S. House of Representatives has one voting member for every 250,000 or so Americans in 1923.

Can a congress member represent 750,000 people effectively?

Can a Congressperson effectively “represent” 5 people?

There is no good reason to alter the number of Congressmen.

 

[g5000]

Make it a part time gig. Clearly they can get it done in half the time they take now.

As I keep saying, it is already a part time job. The House is in session an average of two days a week.

When Congress is not in session, the members have to travel back to their districts and take visits from their constituents in their district office.

And they have to maintain two residences.

 

[g5000]

Can a Congressperson effectively “represent” 5 people?

A lot better than he can represent 762,000!

There is no good reason to alter the number of Congressmen.

There are many good reasons to do so.