BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2629 (Roger Hernández) - Court reporters
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|Version: May 31, 2016 |Policy Vote: JUD. 5 - 1 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 11, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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*********** ANALYSIS ADDENDUM - SUSPENSE FILE ***********
The following information is revised to reflect amendments
adopted by the committee on August 11, 2016
Bill
Summary: AB 2629 would increase the fees charged by court
reporters for original transcripts, and copies thereof,
incrementally over the next five years, as specified. This bill
would require the Judicial Council to report to the Legislature
by January 1, 2021, recommendations to increase uniformity in
transcript rate expenditures in California, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
Trial court costs : Potentially significant increase in annual
court costs (General Fund*) resulting from the transcript fee
increases imposed incrementally over five years. Court
AB 2629 (Roger Hernández) Page 1 of
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expenditures on transcripts total about $20 million annually.
Based on the proposed fee increases, costs to the courts
statewide could potentially increase incrementally by up to
$1.8 million to $6.6 million (General Fund*) over the
five-year period, and annually thereafter, assuming a
consistent level of transcription usage and adoption of the
mandated rates statewide. However, staff notes the estimated
statewide costs are projected to be lower to account for the
proportion of costs attributable to local courts with pre-2012
established rates that may remain unchanged. At the time of
this analysis, the data indicating the proportion of annual
costs attributable to courts with grandfathered rates was
unavailable.
Transcript Reimbursement Fund : Potential future increases in
reimbursements paid out of the Transcript Reimbursement Fund
(Special Fund**) for higher reimbursement costs for
transcripts for low income litigants, to the extent the Court
Reporters Board and its administration of the Transcript
Reimbursement Fund are extended beyond the impending sunset
date of January 1, 2017.
*Trial Court Trust Fund
**Transcript Reimbursement Fund
Author
Amendments:
Reduce the amount of the fee increases for copies of
original transcripts.
Require the Judicial Council to report on or before
January 1, 2021, to the Legislature recommendations to
increase uniformity in transcript rate expenditures in
California, as specified.
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