Unicameral Legislature

Sherry Babitch Jeffe (“The Solution to California’s Continuing Budget Woes,” Opinion, Sept. 6) says that “Californians must consider restructuring the entire political system that drives its government and the governmental institutions that reflect the system.”

Perhaps one long-term change which we should consider is the exchange of our traditional two-house Legislature for the more straightforward one-house (unicameral) model. While such a change could not by itself solve the budgetary dilemma, it would help. First, by having a single 120-member house, each legislator would represent fewer voters, in smaller districts. Voters would be more likely to know who represents them, and how they vote. Second, the number of votes taken on a bill would be more than halved, so there would be fewer points at which lobbyists could apply pressure.

GENE BARMORE

Huntington Beach