The governor went on a veto binge this weekend, axing 95 bills on Saturday alone, including Assemblyman Dave Jones’ attempt to secure funding for language interpreters in certain civil cases involving poor litigants.
Assembly Bill 3050 would have authorized the Judicial Council to test the civil-side interpreters program in up to five counties. The bill would have placed a $15 surcharge on telephonic appearances to pay for the program.
Schwarzenegger issued the same boilerplate veto statement for AB 3050 that he has for almost every other bill that he’s nixed: “I am only signing bills that are the highest priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard and I cannot sign it at this time.”
Jones tried to find money for non-English speaking litigants in 2006, but the governor vetoed that effort too.
“Seven million Californians cannot access the courts without significant language assistance, and yet the governor now says that my legislation to remedy this situation is not a priority for California,” Jones said in an e-mail. “I don’t know what California he is living in, but the California the rest of us live in has courts that are overwhelmed by the need for civil court interpreters.”
— Cheryl Miller
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