Amendments to AB1208 Strengthen Decentralization

[Cheryl Miller]

UPDATE: Here are the proposed amendments to Assembly Bill 1208, the Trial Court Rights Act. Changes to existing statutes are underlined and marked in italics.

The author of the Trial Court Bill of Rights has significantly rewritten the controversial legislation once again, this time restoring some of the strong branch decentralization language that he stripped to secure passage in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on May 3.

The amendments, circulated around the Capitol on Wednesday, remove the Judicial Council’s authority to alter legislative allocations of the Trial Court Trust Fund to the trial courts, according to sources who have seen the new language. Leaders of local courts have complained that the Council has diverted too much of the fund’s money for the troubled Court Case Management System and other branch projects.

The rewritten AB 1208 retains language barring the Judicial Council from diverting any trial court operations money without the consent of two-thirds of a “proportional representation” of all trial courts, sources said. The provision, one of the few that survived the Assembly Judiciary Committee, gives significant veto power to the enormous Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Significant amendments, such as those made to AB 1208 by its author, Majority Floor Leader Charles Calderon, D-Montebello, rarely happen after legislation is weakened in a policy committee. The move suggests the legislation continues to have the backing of Assembly Speaker John Perez and likely will enjoy more support in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, where the bill will be heard next week.