BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1181
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1181 (Cedillo) - As Amended: August 2, 2010
Policy Committee:
JudiciaryVote:10-0 (Consent)
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill extends the sunset and expands allowable uses of the
Transcript Reimbursement Fund (TRF), which provides shorthand
reporting services to low-income litigants in civil cases.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Extends, from January 1, 2011 to January 2013, the sunset on
the fund. Per current law, upon the sunset, any balance in the
fund will be transferred to the Court Reporters' Fund.
2)Allows a person appearing pro se (representing themselves,
without an attorney) to apply for and receive up to $1,500 per
case from the TRF, but limits total TRF reimbursements to such
applicants to $30,000 annually.
3)Requires the Court Reporters' Board to report specified
information regarding the TRF to the Assembly and Senate
Judiciary Committees by March 1, 2012.
4)Requires pro se applicants to refund TRF reimbursements if the
court retroactively denies a litigant's court fee waiver
because they are found not to be indigent.
FISCAL EFFECT
Extended annual expenditure, for two years, of about $330,000
from the TRF, assuming an additional $30,000 in reimbursements
to pro se litigants. Administrative costs for the board to
process additional costs and to report to the Legislature should
be minor and absorbable.
SB 1181
Page 2
COMMENTS
Purpose . The TRF was established in 1981 and is funded through
certified shorthand reporters' annual license renewal fees. The
TRF is intended to provide court transcripts and depositions at
little or no cost to non-profit legal service centers and pro
bono attorneys on behalf of indigent litigants in civil cases.
SB 963 (Ridley-Thomas)/Chapter 385 of 2008 extended the sunset
for the Court Reporters Board and the TRF until January 1, 2011.
Because of concerns that the huge volume of unrepresented
parties could overwhelm the fund, litigants appearing pro se to
represent themselves have been excluded from eligibility for TRF
moneys. The board reports that in fiscal year 2008-09 it
received 363 claims for reimbursement under the TRF and
disbursed approximately $200,000 to 330 applicants. Of the 33
claims denied, nine were from litigants who appeared pro se in
the underlying case. Because the fund has not been fully
utilized by the existing pool of potential applicants, this bill
would, on a trial basis until January 1, 2013, permit a person
appearing pro se to apply for reimbursement from the fund. In
order to ensure that the fund is not overwhelmed, the bill
limits total reimbursements to pro se applicants to $30,000 per
year.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081