california courts

Budget Deadline Punts On Court Funding

June 13, 2014 By CCM Staff

How to handle an election-year funding issue involving the labor-intensive courts system? First, expand it to a “two-year” plan to avoid the hard questions in the election cycle and then tie any increases to “reforms” to be identified later. As this weekend’s constitutionally mandated June 15 California budget deadline expires, that’s the status of hard-hit courts in Gov. Brown’s budget. Not always noted is that one of the ways to “tighten operating costs” is increasing the amount workers pay into their pension funds.

The Courthouse News is a go-to source for following the issue, especially with the focus on Los Angeles, home of the nation’s largest trial court where cutbacks have closed courthouses and forced long journeys to court.

For this years budget, The Courthouse News reports that “… Department of Finance Director Michael Cohen said the $160 million for the courts is part of a two-year strategy to stabilize court funding while the Judicial Council and the chief justice look for ways to tighten operating costs. Most of the additional funds will go toward paying court-employee pensions and benefits and backfilling a shortfall in filing-fee revenue.”

Follow the issue here.

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: california courts, court funding, judicial council

Secret Deals May Mean More Court Money

June 11, 2014 By CCM Staff

They are the most important decisions being made for people of California, so of course the negotiations are going on in secret – but the “leaks” are that courts are about to get a “modest” increase over previous drafts of Gov. Brown’s proposal, according to published news report.

The Contra Costa Times reports that this year’s deal-making is going nicely, saying that “… the knockdown, drag-out partisan fights, stretching on for months, are history. These days, state budget negotiations are downright cordial.” And the paper adds that “… according to Capitol sources briefed on closed-door budget negotiations, the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers have quietly reached deals on funding prekindergarten, pumping more money into the state’s beleaguered court system and funding levels for the state’s controversial bullet train.”

On courts, the report also says that “… after proposing a $160 million increase in spending for California’s courts, Brown has reportedly agreed to another modest bump in funding for the judicial system, whose budget was hit hard at the height of the state’s financial crisis.”

Read the report here.

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: budget, California, california courts, court budget, Gov. Jerry Brown

Train, Not Courts, Lead Budget Talks

June 4, 2014 By CCM Staff

With the June 15 state budget deadline nearing, spending talks are apparently focused – not on replacing lost court funding – but on Gov. Jerry Brown’s plans for the $68 billion-with-a-b bullet train from Los Angeles to the Bay Area, according to the Los Angeles Times and other sources.

Writes the LAT: “… the governor faces another challenge as he tries to secure new funding from pollution fees to keep the project rolling. His effort is emerging as one of the most hotly contested elements of this year’s budget, providing leverage to Democratic lawmakers who have their own eyes on the money.”

You can keep up with the negotiations, but don’t expect any court funding updates, here: Bullet train funding is bargaining chip in state budget debate

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: California, California Budget, california court cuts, california courts, California Rail, California State Budget, California Trains, Gov. Jerry Brown, high speed rail, train

Still Undecided? LAT Endorsements

June 3, 2014 By CCM Staff

Still undecided on today’s judicial election vote? For what it’s worth, here are the Los Angeles Times endorsements:

Office 22: Pamala Matsumoto

Office 48: Charles M. Calderon

Office 54: Debra L. Losnick

Office 61: Jacqueline Lewis

Office 76: Alison Matsumoto Estrada

Office 87: Andrew M. Stein

Office 97: Songhai “Sunny” Armstead

Office 107: Emma Castro

Office 113: Stacy Wiese

Office 117: James B. Pierce

Office 138: Donna Hollingsworth Armstrong

Office 157: Andrew Cooper

You can see more of the Times recommendations here: June 3 primary election: The Times recommends

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: california courts, Courts, elections, endorsements, judicial elections, LA Times, Los Angeles

State Chamber President Backs Court Funding

May 30, 2014 By CCM Staff

Allan Zaremberg is president and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce. Photo from Sacramento Bee report of 5/22/14.

The president and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce has added a business voice to the call for a fully funded court system, calling courts “vital” to the state’s economy and a key part of innovation and job creation. In an opinion piece published in The Sacramento Bee, Allan Zaremberg first notes the funding needs in education and health care then adds “… not so obvious, however, is an appropriate level of funding for California’s courts, a cornerstone of our constitution and democracy.”

The support is, of course, part of gathering pro-court voices in advance of the June 15 California budget deadline. Along with setting out key talking points, it also reminds lawmakers that business interests have a stake in how courts function. Read the comments here.

Filed Under: Courts Budget, Uncategorized Tagged With: California Budget, california chamber of commerce, california court cuts, california courts, Legal news

Court Funds Tied To Worker-Pension Increases

May 28, 2014 By CCM Staff

Photo: gov.ca.gov.com

In case anyone needed the top budget issue explained, reporter Katie Orr at Capital Public Radio makes it clear: “At the most basic level, California’s budget allocates money to state programs for the year. But Gov. Jerry Brown also wants to use it to push his agenda.” She notes that “… Brown is proposing a funding increase of $160 million for the trial courts this year, but wants court employees to contribute more to their pensions.”

Other experts equate tying funds to pension contributions is like using federal money to increase the age for legal consumption of alcohol and other issues. She does not include an immediate response from labor or employees who might think it odd to tie their pensions to keeping courts open.

The story is here: Gov. Brown Links Budget Dollars To Department Reforms

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: California, California Budget, california courts, court budget, Gov. Jerry Brown, pension, SEIU, state budget, union

L.A. Times Outlines June 3 Judicial ‘Races’

May 22, 2014 By CCM Staff

The Los Angeles Times newspaper is outlining the June 3 election options while noting that early voting actually began May 5. The paper notes the non-race nature of the process, reporting that “… dozens of Los Angeles Superior Court judges also are up for reelection this year, but, with one exception, their names won’t be on the ballot and they can be considered reelected because no challengers filed to run against them… but the ballot will include one sitting judge and his challenger, plus candidates vying to succeed 13 judges who declined to run for reelection. In three of those races, only a single candidate filed to run in each, so those races are essentially decided, even though voters will see those three candidates’ names on the ballot.”

Got it? Good. Oh, and also from the Times, “… in 10 other races, voters must choose among candidates vying to be elected to judicial seats. Of those, eight will be wrapped up in June because they feature only two candidates each, virtually guaranteeing that one will win a majority. In the two races with three candidates, November runoffs are possible.”

Check out the story and find a link to endorsements here: FAQs: The Times’ endorsement process for the June 3 elections

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: california courts, California judges, California Superior Court, court cuts, editorial page endorsements, elections, endorsements, judicial elections, Justice Rationing, LA Times

Senate Leader Seeks More Court Spending

May 20, 2014 By CCM Staff

Now that California’s budget season is really upon us, with a June 15 deadline looming, it seems state Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg is emerging as a champion for increased court spending – at least he’s including it among argument to increase state spending as opposed to diverting money to a “rainy day fund.”

The Sacramento Bee newspaper’s Capitol Alert blog outlines that Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat “… said he will continue to push for expanding California’s public preschool program as the Legislature negotiates the state budget with Brown in the coming weeks. He also called out funding for courts, universities and Medi-Cal reimbursement as areas he thinks are inadequate in the budget proposal…”

You can read the report here: Capitol Alert: Steinberg pushes for more spending in budget negotiations – sacbee.com

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: California Budget, california courts, California Legislature, California Senate, court cuts, Darrell Steinberg

Budget Analysis Continues

May 16, 2014 By CCM Staff

Gov. Brown’s “May revision” budget continues to draw attention and analysis, and the Sacramento Business Journal has a good take on how the spending plan pushes court finding issues past November’s election cycle. The BizJournal reports that “… the proposed budget revise points to a new workload-based funding model to allocate money where most needed. The document also expresses support for a two-year strategy to court stabilization that takes time to evaluate and modernize court operations.”

Then it adds: Yet “the administration has been clear that state-funded entities should not expect restorations of reductions — moving forward, government has to be done differently,” the section of the budget summary on the judicial branch reads. That is likely to disappoint labor leaders who hoped some of the nearly 4,000 jobs eliminated over the past years might be reclaimed. Read the BizJournal story here:

California’s trial courts get more money in state budget, but not enough to maintain status quo – Sacramento Business Journal

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: California Budget, california court cuts, california courts, California State Budget, civil court, court rationing, Gov. Jerry Brown

Brown Budget Targets Employee Pensions

May 15, 2014 By CCM Staff

Court-community reviews of Gov. Brown’s new budget are mixed, with state Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye terming it “encouraging” in a statement but labor advocates worried about plans to increase court employees contributions to their pensions. Meanwhile, along with a $60 million increase from his previous plans, Gov. Brown is framing the budget as a two-year process, meaning some real decisions might come after his Nov. re-election bid.

CCM staff photo

Discussions are no doubt being held to figure out what the next four weeks will bring. But the Contra Costa Times is among those noting lawmaker support for more courts funding, reporting that “… the chief justice had backing from state legislators, who recently proposed restoring more than $200 million in court funding in the upcoming budget year. Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, and the judiciary committee chairman, said Brown’s courts budget is still ‘far short’ of the hundreds of millions of dollars it needs to handle its caseloads and keep courthouses open and running.”

Missing from the discussion so far: re-opening any of the closed courts or re-hiring any of the nearly 4,000 court workrs laid off over the past few years.

Read the CC Times report here: California courts get a boost in governor’s budget.

Filed Under: Community, Courts Budget Tagged With: AFSCME, CA Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, California, California Budget, california court cuts, california courts, court rationing, Gov. Jerry Brown, pensions, SEIU, union