The Next Step In The Process

Posted in: Electronic Recording, Furloughs

The Conference Committee on the Budget has taken no action on the Governor’s proposal regarding the Electronic Recording issue at this time. Testimony was taken last Tuesday during the Public Safety portion of the hearings which also related to the Court Budget and Electronic Recording where parties were allowed 60 seconds to present testimony. Testimony was also submitted in writing along with documentation, including sample ER transcripts and well-sourced reports on the issue of ER vs. Court Reporters.

Now that the public hearings have been closed, the Committee meets in open session to discuss and make decisions on every issue or cut within the proposed budget, without public comment or participation. Though many items for discussion have been scheduled, there is no firm date at this point for the hearings regarding the cuts to the courts or the pending ER issue. Our COCRA team continues to monitor this and will send you notification as soon as it is scheduled.

The next step: Once a hearing is held and decision made by the Conference Committee, legislative staff will include language within a budget trailer bill, which will include all of the budget revisions. That bill is then heard and voted on by the general membership of the Legislature. This is why it is important that court reporters make sure your Senators and Assembly Members from your local area know about these issues and that you expect their support!

COCRA’s lobbyist Shane Gusman continues to meet with legislative staff and answer questions and provide information in favor of court reporters. Shane reports that Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg’s office has taken the position that, because this is a budget revision related to budget cuts and not an entirely new budget, that only a majority vote will be required to pass, rather than the two-thirds vote necessary to pass the original budget. This could significantly alter the time frame.

The Budget Conference Committee hopes to have a revised budget to submit to the Legislature by next Monday, June 15th.

Get those letters out today! Find contact information for your local legislative representatives here.

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