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Title
Judicial Council: 2016 Legislative Priorities (Action Required)
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Summary
Summary
Each year, the Judicial Council authorizes sponsorship of legislation to further key council objectives and establishes priorities for the upcoming legislative year. For the 2016 legislative year, the Policy Coordination and Liaison Committee (PCLC) recommends an approach that follows the Chief Justice's Access 3D framework: (1) advocate for investment in our justice system to preserve access to justice for all Californians, including a method to provide stable and reliable funding; (2) advocate to secure new judgeships for communities most in need and ratify the authority of the council to convert vacant subordinate judicial officer positions to judgeships in eligible courts; (3) advocate for a three-branch solution to ensure the fairness and efficiency of California's penalty assessment structure; (4) continue to sponsor legislation to improve judicial branch operational efficiencies, including cost savings and cost recovery measures; and (5) delegate to PCLC the authority to take positions or provide comments on behalf of the Judicial Council on proposed legislation, administrative rules, or regulations, after evaluating input from council advisory bodies and council staff, and any other input received from the courts, provided that the input is consistent with the council's established policies and precedents.
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Recommendation
Recommendation
The PCLC recommends that the Judicial Council consider the following as legislative priorities in 2016:
1. Advocate budget stability for the judicial branch to include: (a) sufficient fund balances to allow courts to manage cash flow challenges; (b) a method for stable and reliable funding for courts to address annual cost increases in baseline operations and plan for the future; and (c) sufficient additional resources to allow courts to improve physical access to the courts by keeping courts open, to expa...
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