State lawmakers propose fewer cuts to court budget

The California Legislature's latest budget would make fewer cuts to the courts than Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed last month. But the Legislature's version also includes trigger cuts that would kick unless the federal government offers additional aid to states -- aid many say is unlikely to arrive.

The Assembly passed the main budget bill, SB 74, by a 61-13 vote on Monday afternoon. It immediately transmitted the bill to the Senate, which had not voted on it as of press time. Detailed budgets for specific departments will be passed in a series of budget trailer bills, likely to be acted on in the coming days.

Speaking on the Assembly floor prior to the vote, Republican Assembly Leader Marie Waldron, R-Escondido, criticized the budget for continuing to fund controversial items like High Speed Rail and enforcement of the AB 5 law the defined when a worker can be considered an independent contractor.

Lawmakers have proposed some changes to the courts budget in recent days, mainly putting more money into the Family Law and Trial Court Trust Funds while taking money away from construction and technology.

At a news conference on Monday intended to provide updates on the state's coronavirus response, Newsom declined to answer budget questions in detail because his office is "in the throes" of negotiations with the Legislature. He praised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, for her efforts to get more federal aid to states.

"She put a marker down of $3 trillion," Newsom said in reference to a measure passed in the Democratic-controlled House last month. "I am encouraged at least on this front. While we haven't seen commensurate progress and acknowledgment by the U.S. Senate, we are seeing increasing recognition by some members of the administration and some Republican Legislative leaders."

The courts and California Department of Justice budgets received little or no mention in an Assembly Budget Committee debate on Monday morning. That session was largely concerned with the education budget and efforts led by Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake, to preserve some business tax credits as companies cope with the pandemic.

The Legislature's version of the budget would cut $100 million from the court's budget, far less than the $283.3 million Newsom put forward as part of his annual May budget revision. There are typically numerous changes between January, when the governor introduces a draft budget, and June, when the final budget is hashed out. But this year saw the state go from huge surpluses to a $54.3 billion shortfall estimated by the California Department of Finance due to the coronavirus and shutdown of much of the state's economy.

The total courts budget stands at $4.3 billion under Legislature's proposal. This includes $238.5 million to backfill declining fine and fee revenue, $30 million for court employment benefits and retirement, $9.9 million for court interpreters and remote interpreting, $50 million to help courts deal with the backlog of cases that have piled up as due to drastically reduced court operations, $25 million over two years to modernize court operations, and $7 million for county law libraries.

Even with the trigger cuts, the Legislature's version would represent a smaller cut to courts than Newsom proposed. It would also protect key programs supported by many Democrats.

"Triggers the reduction of $100 million in Judicial absent sufficient funding from the federal government but protects the following programs from any reduction: Dependency Counsel; Court Interpreters; California Collaborative and Drug Court Projects; Court Appointed Special Advocate Program; Model Self-Help Program; Equal Access Fund; Family Law Information Centers; and Civil Case Coordination," stated an Assembly Budget Floor Report issued Friday.

That language remained the same as a first draft of the floor report released by the Assembly on June 4. But the version of the courts budget unveiled Friday did have a few differences. It would withdraw $43.6 million in general fund support for courthouse design and construction, $11.5 million to expand a pilot program that assesses fines and fees based partly on someone's ability to pay, and $10.3 million in new information technology.

Instead, it would give a $5 million loan to the Family Law Trust Fund and add $11.2 million in ongoing support to the Trial Court Trust Fund. This later money would go towards providing appointed counsel to low-income people in civil litigation, under the terms of AB 330, passed last year.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra's $1.1 billion budget saw relatively small cuts under Newsom's May revision: just $23.5 million and 50 previously budgeted positions. The legislature's version seeks some new spending for the California Department of Justice, including $779,000 to implement AB 5. This is the law changing the standards for when a worker is considered an independent contractor. It responds to the California Supreme Court decision in Dynamex Operations Inc. v. Superior Court 2018 DJDAR 3856.

Becerra would also need to find existing money to enforce seven laws signed by Newsom last year. The Legislature would withdraw the money it had previously approved for new laws on pretrial risk assessment tools, the controlled substances database and firearms enforcement, among others.