Capital Accounts is an occasional chronicle of the intersection of politics and legal policy in Sacramento.
Representatives of lobbying groups for California’s cities and counties said they were still reviewing the bill and didn’t have a position on the amendments. But local leaders may be spooked by visions of $350 million annually being siphoned to future Los Angeles court projects, since so many state lawmakers are elected from that area. There’s also the question of what happens to other pending bills that propose higher filing fees to fund pet projects like civil-case interpreters, dispute resolution services and law libraries. Judiciary leaders are trying to secure support for Perata’s bill from plaintiffs and defense attorneys who may not be crazy about paying higher fees to support new courts and other causes.
“That will have to play out,” Child said Thursday. “This, as you can imagine, has a lot of moving pieces that we’re trying to bring together.”
The chief justice and Sen. Perata plan to hold a press conference at the Capitol on Monday to champion their bill after its first legislative hearing.
Will any Republicans stand behind them?
