Lawyers e-Journal
Thursday, Apr. 19, 2012
House set to debate fiscal year 2013 budget on April 23
Access to justice is in jeopardy in Massachusetts. Call your legislator today and ask them to support passage of amendment #492.
The House of Representatives is set to begin debate on the fiscal year 2013 budget on Monday, April 23. As
you know, 42,000 people arrive at our courthouses each day and are
faced with increasing backlogs, reduced public hours of operation
in some clerks and registers offices. There are over 1,300 fewer
court personnel due to a hiring freeze which has been in place
since October 2008. Access to justice is in jeopardy in
Massachusetts. The Trial Court simply cannot provide the level of
service constituents need or deserve.
- Amendment #492, filed by Representative John Keenan, would add
$14 million to the House funding proposal, bringing it in line with
the Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed funding of $568 million, but
still far short of the courts' maintenance budget of $580.6
million.
For more information on court case filings, funding and
staffing click here.
Call your legislator today and
ask them to support passage of amendment #492.
Click here to identify your
legislators.
In addition, amendment #558, filed by Representative Ruth Balser,
seeks to add $2 million to the Massachusetts Legal Assistance
Corporation's budget to meet the needs of our state's most
vulnerable citizens. This amendment would bring MLAC's funding to
$13 million. These difficult economic times have placed an
extraordinary burden on legal service providers. An unprecedented
number of citizens are eligible for services and revenue from IOLTA
is down 78 percent over the past four years.