Feature
1991
1992
1993
1994
Trial Court Realignment and Efficiency Act adopted
First branchwide strategic plan approved
Publication of Justice in the Balance: 2020, Report of the Commission on the Future of the California Courts
First consolidated budget proposal to the Legislature presented by the Trial Court Budget Commission
Trial Court Budget Commission formed
• The trial of civil and criminal actions is an integral and necessary function of the judicial branch of state government.
• All citizens of this state should enjoy equal and ready access to the trial courts.
• Local funding of trial courts may create disparities in the availability of the courts for resolution of disputes and dispensation of justice.
• Funding of trial courts should not create financial barriers to the fair and proper resolution of actions.
• This legislation promotes the general welfare and protects the public interest in a viable and accessible judicial system. The dialogue about state funding for the trial courts continued into the next year, during which the Trial Court Funding Act of 1985 (Assem. Bill 19 [Robinson]) was enacted, albeit without implementing appropriations. In 1988, with the enactment of the BrownPresley Trial Court Funding Act (Sen. Bill 612 [Presley]; Assem. Bill 1197 [W. Brown]), partial state funding for trial court operations was achieved. The act gave the counties the option of participating and guaranteed state block grants if they chose to do so. This legislation was funded with approximately $300 million. The act also established the Trial Court Improvement Fund Winter 2009
(TCIF), which would allow the Judicial Council to distribute grants to the trial courts to improve their efficiency and management. However, the Legislature did not fund the TCIF when it passed the bill. By 1989, all counties had opted to participate under the terms of the Brown-Presley Trial Court Funding Act. That year the state distributed $527 million to the counties in the form of block grants or other appropriations for trial court expenses. While the state was not assuming full responsibility for funding of trial court operations, the momentum had shifted significantly in that direction.
Making a Stronger Case The $527 million in state funds provided to the counties in 1989 covered only 44 percent of total trial court costs. The recession that began in 1990 reduced the appropriation to 38 percent. In 1991, the Legislature established the goal of achieving 70 percent state funding of the trial courts by 1995–1996. But the recession of the early 1990s and the cumulative effects of Proposition 13 imposed continuing restraints on fulfilling that goal. In 1991, state funding provided 51.4 percent of trial court costs, fell to 50.6 percent in 1992, and returned to 44 percent in 1993. Recognizing the clear pattern of inadequate state funding, in 1992 the Judicial Council created the Trial
Court Budget Commission. The commission’s membership consisted of 26 trial judges representing 10 geographic regions. Serving in the capacity of advisory members were 4 court administrators and 2 county administrators. The commission was delegated the new responsibility of preparing annual budget submittals for the trial courts. It was also given the authority to reallocate funds to the extent authorized by the annual budget and determine procedures for submission of budget information by the trial courts. The commission created 11 functional categories of trial court budget purposes to replace block grant funding and established baseline budget requests for each trial court. In 1994, for the first time, the judicial branch, through the work of the commission, presented a consolidated trial court budget proposal to the Governor and Legislature. Trial court needs were projected at $1.75 billion, an amount that far exceeded the approximately $526 million estimated in 1982. Although Governor Pete Wilson and the commission had different estimates of trial court costs, the Governor proposed a $400 million increase in state support for a total of $1.017 billion, an amount that represented 58 percent of trial court costs as estimated by the commission. Also in 1994, with the leadership of Assembly Member Phillip Isenberg, the Legislature passed Assembly Bill 9