Assembly committee passes State Bar fee increase but calls for more oversight

The Assembly Judiciary Committee passed a bill containing a $544 active attorney fee for 2020, pushing forward a long-debated State Bar fee increase aimed at solidifying the agency's fiscal future.

The approved amount is less than the the fee sought by the bar and recommended by the state auditor but still a total increase of $144.

The bill, SB 176, passed the Senate 32-4 in May. It now moves to the full Assembly for a vote before reaching the governor's desk.

During a Tuesday hearing, lawmakers expressed concern about the increase's impact on low-income attorneys and lingering doubts from previous years of "questionable spending," as stated in a legislative memo.

"I think the bar still needs to build back some trust and relationship with the Legislature on being able to understand what your financial situation is," Judiciary Committee Chairman Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, said during the hearing. He was referring to controversy over executive salaries and expenditures.

In the future, Stone said he would like to explore bringing the State Bar into the same legislative budgeting process as other public agencies to increase oversight. The bar currently creates its own budget and submits it to the Legislature's judiciary committees, not the budget or appropriations committees.

Stone pointed to a large discrepancy between the bar's initial request and recommendations made by the state auditor and the Legislative Analyst's Office.

The State Bar initially asked for a total annual fee of $860, double this year's $430 fee. But lawmakers largely followed the more modest $572 annual fee suggested by a state audit in May. The Legislative Analyst's Office review recommended even more bare bones funding, at a minimum total of $439.

"While the State Bar does indeed require a fee increase, it should be reduced as recommended by the State Auditor and as further reduced by suggestions from the LAO," according to a committee memo. The ultimate amended bill also included a $183 fee for inactive attorneys.

While the bar wanted to waive the fee increase entirely for attorneys making less than $90,000, the proposal was nixed due to technical impediments, State Bar Board of Trustees Chair Jason P. Lee said in an interview.

Instead, the bill will offer a 25% discount to attorneys making less than $60,000 annually, similar to existing scaling, but some committee members said it isn't enough.

"I think it's wholly unfair that we continue to raise bar dues on folks who are doing public service with their law degrees," Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, said during the hearing. "I'd be more willing to increase bar dues more for those who are making more and ensure that we are not providing a disincentive to actually do public service."

Both Lee and the bill's author, Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, said during the hearing they're open to finding a scaling alternative.

"We've come a long way," Lee said in an interview. "Both committees' recognition of that is heartening, and the State Bar will continue its road to reform and earning the continued trust of the Assembly and the Senate."