State Budget Ideas List Courts Among Lawmaker Concerns

Exactly on cue, opposition views are starting to emerge in advance of Gov. Brown’s next draft of a state budget, which is expected next week. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that state Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, a Democrat and former union political director from L.A., lists increased courts funding among his concerns. The news brought quick comment from Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, who has called upon lawmakers to invest in the justice system.

“I applaud the speaker’s leadership in articulating the need to begin reinvesting in the courts,” she said in a statement to the Times. “His knowledge and understanding of the equal access to justice issues are a great benefit to all Californians.”

The speaker’s comments are hardly casual. The “ideas” were developed along with his fellow members of the Assembly Democratic Caucus and came during a speech to the Sacramento Press Club. That means it’s another step toward the state budget debate that begins for real when Brown releases the next version of his spending plan.

Read about other issues in the complete LA Times story here.