Recap: OCEA Advocates for Court Funding in Sacramento

Dear OCEA member,

We have some initial good news for Court members with the unveiling of newly elected Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2019-20 budget last week. His spending proposal, which covers every aspect of California state government, includes continued additional funding for the Courts. The proposal marks the beginning of both the budget adoption process (which will culminate in the adoption of a final budget in June), but more importantly the continuation of OCEA’s efforts to secure an even larger allocation for trial courts.

This preliminary budget is a big win for the Judicial Branch, and is proof that the direct advocacy of OCEA and our partners in our California Labor coalition has paid off.

Over the next five months, the Governor and the Legislature will work together to finalize the budget, including additional funding for the Courts. Once that process is complete, the Judicial Council will review the trial court budget and determine funding levels for the state’s 58 trial courts.

Last week, OCEA workplace leaders Lezlee Neebe, Aimee Skochko, and Mary Reynolds, together with OCEA staff members Bridgette Washington, Danielle Chau, Michelle Rubio and Tim Steed traveled to Sacramento. They teamed up with OCEA’s legislative advocates in the state capitol to push for more funding for the Courts in the proposed budget. Legislators heard about the problems facing Orange County Superior Court and the impact of stagnant wages and benefits first hand from the workers who are impacted every day.

We educated the Orange County delegation about our support for the initial budget. We also requested two additional items to be considered in the budget. One is a “cost-of-doing business adjustment.” Unlike many other parts of state government, the Judicial Branch does not receive an adjustment each year to account for increases in recurring expenses. Our second request is for the state-mandated transcript rate for Court Reporters to be raised. This rate has not been raised in 30 years! Our requests are being echoed by other unions representing Court workers throughout the state. We will continue to work collaboratively with our union allies to push for these budget augmentations.

In coming weeks and months OCEA members will be among those testifying before budget subcommittees. We’ll also continue to meet with legislators, both in Sacramento and in their district offices, to make sure trial court funding remains a top priority. We’ll keep you updated as developments related to the budget occur. If you would like to help with our legislative advocacy please go to ocea.org/getinvolved.

Click here to review a brief overview of our trip to Sacramento!

In Solidarity,

Tim Steed
Assistant General Manager

Publication Date: January 23, 2020