Businessman Says Doubling California's Legislators Would Save State Money

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A California businessman says the way to save California money is to double the size of the state legislature.

John Cox, the man behind the idea got the go-ahead on Monday to start collecting signatures to get the measure on the ballot. The Republican is also planning a 2018 run for governor. He says this issue transcends politics.

"This isn't a Republican problem or a Democrat problem," he said. "It's a problem for all Californians who care about honest government."

By putting more politicians in power, it would greatly reduce the number of Californians each one represents. On average, An Assemblyman represents more than 450,000 people, while a state Senator represents nearly 1 million people. As a result, Cox says state lawmakers are "full-time fundraisers and campaigners," but he doesn't blame them.

"As a result, legislators spend countless hours on the phone raising money. They'll start their day with a breakfast fundraising event and end it with a fundraising cocktail party," he said.

His plan says the plan would let politicians do their work while saving taxpayers money.

So how would it work?

The new neighborhood districts would include twice the number of legislators representing district between 5,000 and 10,000 people with each member of the so-called working group earning just $1 a day in salary. From that working group, 80 people would join the Assembly and 40 would join the state Senate in Sacramento. None would make more than the median yearly income of the average California citizen.