The Trial Court's approximately $628 million allocation
"preserves basic court operations," but could restrict other
programs, court officials said, after Gov. Charlie Baker signed the
state's final fiscal year 2016 budget last Friday.
The Trial Court's budget is approximately $4 million less than
the budget passed earlier by the House and Senate. Baker also
vetoed the outside section that would have provided a pay raise for
some private bar advocates. While the Massachusetts Bar Association
is disappointed in these reductions, there is still a possibility
that these legislative proposals could be revived when the
Legislature takes up overrides, or as part of a larger reform in
the future.
Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants, Trial Court
Chief Justice Paula M. Carey and Trial Court Administrator Harry
Spence issued a joint statement on the Trial Court's budget and
Baker's veto of some of the funding allocated by the
Legislature:
"We in the judiciary are grateful for the care taken by the
Baker Administration and the Legislature in making the difficult
decisions necessary to craft an FY16 Budget that is balanced and
meets the critical funding needs of state government. The
Legislature approved a $631 million budget for the Trial Court,
which would allow the judiciary to maintain its basic operations
and continue critical initiatives. The Administration's budget
proposal preserves basic court operations, but the $4.1 million
reduction in court funding would imperil important initiatives such
as our ability to implement the Legislature's domestic violence
statute, including the development of a risk/assessment tool that
will help identify the dangerousness of domestic violence
defendants; our plans to expand drug courts to combat opioid abuse;
our opening of new Court Service Centers that assist the growing
number of unrepresented civil litigants; and our efforts to
continue court modernization. We look forward to continuing to work
with the Legislature and the Baker Administration to ensure that
the Trial Court receives the funds needed to ensure a high quality
of justice for the people of this Commonwealth."
In a positive step forward, the final FY2016 budget includes $17
million in funding for civil legal aid - an approximately $2
million increase over last year's levels.