Senate approves measure to reduce number of House seats
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's Senate is rejecting a proposed constitutional amendment to reduce the number of its seats, but it's putting the onus back on the state House of Representatives to decide whether voters should get the question of shrinking it.
The Senate voted 42-7 on Thursday to send the measure back to the House after it stripped out a provision to reduce the Senate from 50 seats to 38.
Amending Pennsylvania's constitution requires both chambers to pass the same measure in two successive legislative sessions before the proposal goes to a statewide referendum.
Both chambers passed a resolution to shrink the House from 203 seats to 151 in the 2015-16 legislative session.