text: If this is a time for Alaskans to tighten their belts, or even eat them, why does the state continue to have a two house legislature in the era of one-man one-vote and districts based on population, not area?  It is a total duplication, and simply provides jobs for elected representatives and their staff members, and allows many Alaskans to say that their uncle/aunt/neighbor/probation officer is in the legislature.  Then again, if two houses are better than one, why not add a third or fourth house?
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  Suggestion: ISER (the University of Alaska Anchorage's Institute of Social and Economic Research) should investigate and report on the benefits of shifting from the present two house legislature to a one house legislature.  The Biblical fat years are clearly gone with the wind, and the lean years will only become more so over time.