Imagine if someone in Harrisburg came up with a way to save tens of millions of dollars each year just by doing things the way other states do them.

Rep. Mark Mustio will take a whack Monday at the big beast we know as America's Largest and Most Expensive Full-Time State Legislature. Mr. Mustio backs the idea of shrinking the state House from 203 to 161 members, and the Senate from 50 to 40.

The Republican from Moon is intent on having colleagues put up or shut up. His press conference tomorrow is a bid to raise the question to a height where it can't be ignored. He needs 102 House members to pass a "discharge resolution,'' a device that hasn't been used successfully since the 1960s, as far as Mr. Mustio knows.

That resolution would force the bill from the state government committee, where it has languished since January, and into the "normal process." Then?

"I anticipate it sits there and nothing happens,'' Mr. Mustio said.

But he can make other parliamentary maneuvers later. Freshman Rep. Matt Smith of Mt. Lebanon is thus far the only Democrat to sign on to his discharge resolution.

Mr. Mustio, first elected in 2003, figures if he announces the bill's 33 co-sponsors, along with the names of all 50 freshman legislators and every other lawmaker who ever claimed to be for a smaller Legislature, public and media pressure will build. Co-sponsoring a bill that just collects dust is a sham.

"I got elected to get some stuff done,'' Mr. Mustio said, "not to make friends.''

He has more allies than he might realize. I had coffee last week with the Citizen Public Policy Group, a group formed by some residents of Longwood at Oakmont, a retirement community without the retiring types. These citizens seek four reforms: a smaller Legislature, the right of citizens to initiate referendums, term limits and merit selection of judges. (Chair Jim Simmermon wants anyone like-minded to contact him at 412-826-5854 or JimSim12@aol.com.)

"We're tired of talk,'' Longwood resident Chris Altenberger said. "We want action.''

More than a year into this effort, these folks are only unsure if this downsizing goes far enough. Joe Falgione said they'd rather shoot for an even smaller statehouse because then, when the inevitable compromise comes, the Legislature might come out the right size.

They know 253 lawmakers far exceeds the number in similar-sized states such as Illinois, with 177, and Ohio, with 132. Where citizens there spent $5.83 and $3.69 per capita on their legislatures in 2005, each Pennsylvanian spent $23.86. Only the ethically challenged legislatures of Alaska and Rhode Island spent more per resident on statehouses, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

If Pennsylvanians could vote for a smaller statehouse, they surely would, but first a bill must pass consecutive sessions of the Legislature. That means the earliest this could get on a statewide ballot is November 2009.

House Republican Leader Sam Smith of Punxsutawney has argued a smaller Legislature wouldn't save much because the size of each lawmaker's staff would have to grow to handle the increased workload. That's hooey. The number of legislative staffers more than doubled between 1979 and 2003, going from 1,430 workers to 2,947. That's almost six times the number in Ohio and more than three times the staff in Illinois. Their capitols haven't crumbled.

It's also a funny time to complain about maybe doing more with less. Attorney General Tom Corbett is investigating House Democrats for passing out $1.9 million in bonuses to staffers during the 2006 election year. The biggest payouts went to staffers who spent loads of time working on election campaigns rather than state jobs.

This Legislature annually pads its budgets and "underspends'' so it can add to a slush fund that topped $215 million last year. This famously flexible fund allowed lawmakers to take their unconstitutional pay raises as "unvouchered expenses" for months in 2005 before retreating in the citizens revolt.

The Legislature didn't even cut its budget when its Speaker's Commission on Legislative Reform recommended that in lieu of cutting the General Assembly's size. The recommended 10 percent cut to $285 million was spurned. The 2007-08 budget is $327 million, which seems an awful lot to maintain a 253-member body.

If you're for shrinkage, call your state representative or senator tomorrow and tell them to join Mr. Mustio, Mr. Smith and their allies.