BUDGET

At the beginning of the week the Senate announced an impasse with the House over budget negotiations, and indicated their willingness to extend the session or come back in a special budget session in the spring.

The main stumbling block dealt with the amount of cuts in the higher education budget. Within a few hours, both the Senate and House leaders indicated the impasse had been overcome and that official budget conferences would begin. Negotiations and agreements started coming quickly between the different budget conference committees that deal with education, health and human services, general government, transportation and civil and criminal justice appropriations. In order to finish on time, the budget bill must be printed and on the desks of legislators by next Tuesday night. It appears that will happen.

COURT FUNDING

Negotiations between the House and Senate over the court budget are going smoothly. Neither chamber’s proposed budget contained any cuts to the funding for our courts.

The main differences are the amount of money for the courts to deal with the mortgage foreclosure backlog and the amount of general revenue dollars directed to stabilize court funding. The House budget has $5.7 million to address the foreclosure backlog, while the Senate has $2.4 million. The House and Senate both direct substantially more general revenues to court funding with less reliance on court filing fees. These differences are expected to be worked out over the weekend.

The budget for the Clerks of Court is not evolving as smoothly. During budget negotiations, the Senate proposed a $30 million cut to the clerks’ budget which could be potentially very harmful to their operations. The courts and the clerks continue to work together to ensure that the core court system does not sustain budget cuts.

CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE FUNDING

At the start of budget negotiations, the House had only $100,000 appropriated for civil legal assistance funding while the Senate had $2 million. During early negotiations the House increased its offer to $500,000, then the Senate counter-offered at its original $2 million.

It now appears that the House is willing to increase its offer to $1 million which is consistent with funding levels from the Legislature in tight budget years.

MANDATORY RETIREMENT AGE FOR JUDGES

SB 408 by Senator David Simmons (R-Orlando) was approved by the Florida Senate 38-1. This legislation would place a proposed constitutional amendment that would increase the mandatory retirement age for judges, from 70 to 75. If approved, the measure would become effective January 1, 2013 and would only apply to justices and judges elected or appointed on or after that date. Sen. Simmons argued that the higher retirement age was the trend in other states and it would allow Florida to also benefit from the experience of older judges.

The measure passed after an amendment was offered and later withdrawn that would have increased the current minimum five years of membership in The Florida Bar as a prerequisite to being a circuit or county judge, to 10 years of Bar membership. Ten years is the current minimum requirement for appellate judges in Florida, but not for trial judges. The amendment was sponsored by Senator Jeremy Ring (D-Margate) but withdrawn after additional debate.

The bill now moves to the House where its companion legislation – HB 345 by Representative Peter Nehr (R-Tarpon Springs) – has never been heard in a committee.

JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSIONS

Late last week, the House approved HB 971 by Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Ft. Walton Beach). The legislation does not change the Bar’s involvement in the JNC process nor change the staggered terms of Bar nominees appointed by the Governor. The legislation would change the staggered terms of JNC members not nominated by the Bar to terms of service “at the pleasure” of the Governor.

Another provision of the bill dealing with scholarships for minority law students was amended to change the source of funding from election filing fees to general revenue. In addition, the House measure would eliminate the statewide judicial nominating commission for judges of compensation claims and instead rely on the 1st DCA JNC to recommend those judges.

The Senate companion – SB 1570 by Sen. Simmons – was withdrawn from its last committee of reference and placed on the calendar making it available for floor action during the last week of the session.

Information on all bills of general interest within the profession can be found in the Bar’s “2012 Bill Reports” at this link:

www.floridabar.org/DIVEXE/GCBillReport.nsf/WDOCS?OpenView

For more detailed information on specific legislation being tracked by the Bar, visit the Legislation Committee’s webpage on the Bar website at this link:

www.floridabar.org/cmdocs/bd160.nsf/WDOCS

As of February 17, 2012

With only three weeks left in the session, the pace was a little more frantic this week. The reality is that most proposed bills (80 percent or more) never become law because of the lack of time for the Legislature to debate and discuss them before session’s end. However, here’s what’s working. . .

BUDGET

The Senate’s proposed budget passed out of the Senate Budget Committee, clearing the way for floor action next week. At $70.8 billion, the Senate proposal is slightly more than the House’s proposed budget of $69.2 billion. Most of the difference between the two is the Senate’s including control over two local expressway authorities. There are also major differences over higher education and the amount of cuts in hospital Medicaid reimbursement rates.

The House has already passed its budget. After the Senate passes its budget, the two chambers will resolve differences in budget conference committees. The governor appears generally pleased with both budgets, which contain his No. 1 priority — an additional $1 billion for state public schools.

COURT FUNDING

As reported earlier, both the House and Senate proposed budgets contain no cuts for the courts. This is a significant achievement and is due to years of work by the courts, the Bar and our legislators to understand the importance of keeping our courthouses and the clerks’ offices operating smoothly and efficiently. There is still work to do to reduce any cuts to the clerks, but we remain optimistic.

Both chambers’ budgets also contain many of the recommendations from the courts and the clerks regarding stabilizing funding for the core court system, relying more on general revenue and less on fluctuating revenue from filing fees and other court-related revenue. Of course, nothing is finalized until the conference committees finish and a final product is voted upon by both chambers.

CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE FUNDING

No change since last week, when we received the news that Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff had placed $2 million in the Senate budget for civil legal assistance funding. That appropriation was supported by the full Senate Budget Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations. In addition to Sen. Bogdanoff, the members are: Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton; Sen. Greg Evers, R-Crestview; Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Brandon; Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville; Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa; and Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens. However, there is still work to be done, as the House has put aside only $100,000 for civil legal assistance funding.

This is an especially important appropriation this year because of the serious cutbacks in legal aid for Florida’s poor as a result of plunging revenue from IOTA accounts. It is a critical time for legal assistance for the poor because the need is at an all time high.

JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSIONS

HB 971 by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, took an interesting turn this week. The House Judiciary Committee — its last committee of reference – reported the bill favorably 14-4, but not before members adopted several amendments offered by the bill’s sponsor. One amendment removed the first part of the bill, which would have clarified that retired senior judges may be assigned to temporary duty and continue to receive their retirement pay. This provision was supported by the judges but was taken out of the bill, according to the sponsor, because it would have cost at least $1.5 million per year.

Another amendment would direct monies from the Elections Commission Trust Fund to the Florida Bar Foundation, to be used for scholarships through the Law Student Assistance Grant Program. The scholarships are to be awarded to promising women and minority law students who attend Florida law schools and who have expressed a desire to seek judicial office in the future. The monies would come from qualifying fees paid by judges who are ultimately unopposed — estimated to be $600,000 per year.

The final amendment adopted would repeal the current statewide nominating commission for judges of compensation claims, and move that responsibility to the judicial nominating commission for the First District Court of Appeal.

The Senate companion, SB 1570 by Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, was not heard this week and is still in its last committee of reference. SB 1570 does not contain the provisions amended into the House bill. Both the House and the Senate bills leave intact the current Bar involvement in the judicial nominating commission process.

MANDATORY RETIREMENT AGE FOR JUDGES

There was no action this week on bills that would propose a constitutional change of extending the current mandatory retirement age for judges from age 70 to age 75. SB 408 is on the agenda next week at its last committee of reference. However, its companion — HB 345 — has yet to be heard in any House committee.

Information on all bills of general interest within the profession can be found in the Bar’s “2012 Bill Reports” at this link:
http://www.floridabar.org/DIVEXE/GCBillReport.nsf/WDOCS?OpenView

For more detailed information on specific legislation being tracked by the Bar, visit the Legislation Committee’s webpage on the Bar website at this link: http://www.floridabar.org/cmdocs/bd160.nsf/WDOCS

February 10, 2012

The House and Senate are not that far apart on their proposed state budgets, and the reapportionment plans of each chamber have been adopted and are on their way for review by the Attorney General and the courts.

BUDGET

The House passed its proposed state budget of $69.2 billion on a 79 to 38 vote. The Senate is expected to release its budget today and vote its version out next week. The Senate budget is expected to match closely with the total budget of the House, with the main differences in certain components of spending – mostly in the health and education areas. Fortunately, both the House and the Senate are fairly close on their proposed budgets for the courts.

COURT FUNDING

The Senate’s proposed budget, similar to the House budget, contains no reductions to court funding.

In addition to funding core court functions, the Senate budget includes $1 million in additional dollars for the court system to handle the backlog in foreclosure cases; the House budget also provides an additional $5.7 million to address the foreclosure backlog.

The Senate proposal does not include the controversial provision in the House budget to remove the clerks from the normal budget process of the state. The Senate budget does include an appropriation of $57.6 million to the clerks to repay the loan required to handle trust fund deficits in this fiscal year as well as an appropriation of $121 million to the courts for the same problem with trust fund deficits this fiscal year.

The Senate also released its version of the court stabilization funding plan which more closely tracks the recommendations of the court, and provides a redirect of general revenue to replace filing fees as the primary source of funding for the courts. The House also provides a similar stabilization plan, with the main differences being the “blend” or mix of general revenue and filing fees.

Recently, House Speaker Dean Cannon spoke to the Florida Supreme Court Historical Society and indicated his pride at being a member of the Bar. He added that, despite differences with the Court, he respected the institution and was committed to full funding of our court system without any cuts.

On the Senate side, the new chair of the Budget Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations, Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, made similar comments as she presented her recommendations to the committee for the first time.

CIVIL LEGAL ASSISTANCE FUNDING

In her new role, Senator Bogdanoff also recommended $2 million for civil legal assistance funding. Her Senate Budget Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations approved that recommendation, and it will now be part of the Senate budget.

Last year, the Governor vetoed a $1 million appropriation for the program. The House has only $100,000 in its budget for civil legal assistance, but House leaders have indicated a willingness to explore the higher funding level proposed by the Senate.

All of this comes at a critical time for legal aid. Low interest rates have drastically reduced the annual income derived from IOTA accounts, the main source of funding for legal aid in Florida. Consequently, local and state legal aid organizations facing a crisis in meeting the ever growing demand and need for their services poor.

JUDICIAL NOMINATING COMMISSIONS

There was no action on either SB 1570 by Sen. David Simmons or HB 971 by Rep. Matt Gaetz. Both of these bills are in their last committee of reference and neither bill changes the current involvement of The Florida Bar in the JNC process.

MANDATORY RETIREMENT AGE FOR JUDGES

There was no action on SB 408 by Sen. Simmons or HB 345 by Rep. Peter Nehr this week. These bills propose a change in the Florida Constitution to increase the current mandatory retirement age of judges, from 70 to 75.

Although SB 408 only has one committee of reference left, the House bill has not received a hearing and seems unlikely to pass this year.

Information on all bills of general interest within the profession can be found in the Bar’s “2012 Bill Reports” at this link:
http://www.floridabar.org/DIVEXE/GCBillReport.nsf/WDOCS?OpenView

For more detailed information on specific legislation being tracked by the Bar, visit the Legislation Committee’s webpage on the Bar website at this link:
http://www.floridabar.org/cmdocs/bd160.nsf/WDOCS

Second Week of 2012 Legislative Session Update
January 20, 2012

State Budget

State economic forecasters projected a slight uptick in state revenue for the fiscal year ahead, but that will not be enough to avoid billion-dollar budget cuts. The House will be placing self-executing contingencies in their budget proposals in order to alleviate any deficits or increases which may occur due to the early budget process this session. Specifically, Speaker Dean Cannon released a statement this week outlining the House goals and positions regarding budget issues.

“Once again, the Legislature will be called upon to respond to the challenge of a budget shortfall exceeding $1 billion for FY 2012-13. Although this will not be easy, we have a proven track record of responsible budgeting, and our state’s fiscal situation is improved from recent years. Economic conditions are stabilizing; last week, the Revenue Estimating Conference issued an essentially unchanged General Revenue estimate from its fall forecast.”

Senate and House budget committees are scheduled to meet numerous times the week of January 23-27.

Court Funding

The full Senate Budget Committee presented a plan to help improve the efficiency of the trial court operations.

Under this plan, circuit court budgets would develop a weighted caseload unit cost for different types of cases. Unit costs would be developed based upon size of the circuit, and circuits of similar size would be categorized together. Once the unit costs are developed, the plan would be incorporated into the trial court budget similar to the method used for the clerks of court.

Another component of the plan is to improve the collection rate of mandatory assessments and court fines and fees. Senate staff reported nearly $80 million of fees, fines, and other costs were not assessed and/or not collected at the trial court level. The plan directs the clerks to provide the Legislature with suggestions for improving collections, and includes working with the Department of Revenue to recover these lost revenues. The plan would also help ensure that all assessments mandated by statute would be imposed by judges.

The Governor’s proposed budget has no cuts for the courts and includes the proposal that would help stabilize court funding by placing less reliance on the revenue generated from mortgage filing fees and more reliance on general revenue. The proposal would in effect shift approximately $280 million of filing fees to general revenue and redirect the same amount of general revenue back to the courts.

The Senate and House Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriation committees are scheduled to meet several times the week of January 23-27.

Civil Legal Assistance Funding

We continue to educate key members of the Senate and House Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committees about the Florida Civil Legal Assistance Act which provides state-funded legal assistance through existing local legal aid organizations serving all 67 Florida counties. The program provides legal assistance to low income families and individuals in the areas of domestic violence, entitlements to federal benefits, elder abuse and family law. In addition, the program has a positive economic impact for the State of Florida, specifically generating $13.86 of economic impact for every $1 spent by the state for civil legal assistance funding. Positive feedback is being received.

Mandatory Retirement Age for Judges

HB 345 by Representative Peter Nehr (R-Tarpon Springs) and SB 408 by Senator David Simmons (R-Altamonte Springs) would increase the mandatory retirement age of justices and judges from 70 to 75. The current mandatory retirement age of 70 was placed in the Florida Constitution in 1972 when the average life expectancy was 70.8 years. The average life expectancy in 2012 is over 78 years and expected to increase to 83 years by the year 2050.

SB 408 was debated in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The testimony in committee referenced that many good judges are forced to retire earlier than necessary due to the current age restrictions in place. Sen. Simmons believes that increasing the age restriction by 5 years will help with continuity in the judiciary and also help reduce retirement costs for the State of Florida. This is possible because judges will be able to continue to work and contribute to the state pension fund. Sen. Simmons also pointed out that many U.S. Supreme Court justices have had their most productive periods after the age of 70. Sen. Simmons noted that many states have no age restrictions on judges. Many that do have age restrictions are beyond the age of 70. In his closing comments, Sen. Simmons reminded fellow senators there is no age restriction on the Legislature and stated that the current mandatory age requirement is antiquated.

Judicial Nominating Commissions

HB 971 by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Ft. Walton Beach) and SB 1570 by Sen. David Simmons (R-Orlando) maintain the current staggered terms for the nominees provided by the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar. The bills provide that the 5 members of the JNC appointed by the Governor, who are not Florida Bar nominees, serve “at the pleasure of the Governor.” HB 971 was amended last week to conform to SB 1570.

Nationally, Bar involvement and terms of service for JNC members varies. Some states have a JNC process similar to Florida’s while other states have shorter terms of service, no specified term, serve at the pleasure of the Governor, or are composed differently. The bills also provide that a retired judge may continue to receive retirement pay while on temporary duty as a senior judge.

The Legislature continues to review this issue to find an appropriate and effective balance. SB 1570 has been referred to Senate Judiciary and Budget. HB 971 passed the House Civil Justice Subcommittee on January 11 and next goes to the Government Operations and Judiciary committees.

January, 2012

Dear Florida Bar Members:

The leadership of The Florida Bar diligently prepares for every legislative session by developing not only a legislative strategy, but a comprehensive communications plan so that Florida Bar members are made aware of important legislative issues affecting the administration of justice as they may arise.

The Florida Bar carefully reviews all pre-filed bills and shares relevant information regarding those measures on the Bar’s website with leaders of any affected Bar sections and committees, as well as our full membership and the public at large.

In addition, your Florida Bar leadership is committed to providing as up-to-date and comprehensive legislative communications to our members as possible. In that regard, beginning Friday, January 13, and continuing each of the following Fridays during the legislative session, the Bar will post at www.floridabar.org/2012legislativesession an update outlining the progress of any bill that implicates The Florida Bar’s legislative platform. Each weekly update will summarize what the Bar has done during the week. This 2012 Legislative Session webpage will be linked from the homepage, and you may bookmark the direct link or add it to your favorites.

To place these matters in context, it is also important to outline for you the restrictions and parameters on The Florida Bar with regard to its legislative activities. We are a unified bar with mandatory membership requirements.

United States Supreme Court case law and well-established First Amendment principles restrict the legislative issues about which The Florida Bar may lobby to those core topics regarding the regulation and discipline of attorneys; matters relating to the improvement of the functioning of the courts; judicial efficacy and efficiency; increasing the availability of legal services to society; lawyers’ trust accounts; and the education, ethics, competence, integrity, and regulation of the legal profession.

Additional Bar advocacy is allowable if an issue is recognized as being of great public interest; lawyers are especially suited by their training and experience to evaluate and explain the matter; and the topic affects the rights of those likely to come into contact with the judicial system.

Hence, Florida Bar leadership and those lobbyists who represent this organization will not and cannot lobby for or against issues that are either outside the purview of our constitutional authority or that are not part of the Bar’s official legislative platform. Bar committees are similarly bound.

However, the Bar’s sections — operating in their own name and with their own voluntary dues — have more flexibility in their ability to lobby regarding political issues. But since these sections are still a part of The Florida Bar, they nevertheless have certain limitations on their legislative advocacy (i.e., sections may not lobby for issues that are outside their subject matter jurisdiction, are contrary to any position of the Bar, or which are unduly divisive).

Please understand, however, that these restrictions do not interfere with an individual member’s right to lobby for or against any legislative issue. Similarly, voluntary bar organizations that are not formally affiliated with The Florida Bar are not subject to the same advocacy restrictions that apply to The Florida Bar.

The Florida Bar’s legislative positions — which have been formally approved by the Board of Governors — as well as talking points on key issues, links to bills and to legislators, and other valuable information can also be found at www.floridabar.org/2012legislativesession.

Thank you for your interest in The Florida Bar’s legislative process and for your understanding of the principles that will be guiding your professional organization in the upcoming legislative session.

Sincerely,
Scott G. Hawkins, President
President@flabar.org

Learn about President Hawkins’ 2011-2012 priorities in a video posted on The Florida Bar’s website.

Gwynne A. Young of Tampa has been elected by the membership as President-elect of The Florida Bar for 2011-12. Her installation will be June 24 during the Annual Convention in Orlando, and she will become the 64th President of The Florida Bar in June 2012. Results are also now available for the Fourth Circuit board run-off election. Read more.

State court funding got a reprieve on April 6th, according to The Florida Bar:

Saying he needs to better understand how the crisis happened, Gov. Rick Scott did not approve the whole fix for the courts’ cash flow emergency caused by plummeting foreclosure filing fees — just enough to ward off staff furloughs through the end of April. Read the full story.

Yesterday, courts were facing the possibility of employee furloughs. See “Chief judge: Court employees face 14-day furloughs unless Scott acts,” Palm Beach Post, April 5, 2011.

Board of Governors members Gwynne Young and Skip Campbell are meeting in the runoff election for Bar president, after board member Jake Schickel was eliminated in March balloting.

Young led the initial round of balloting to be the 2012-2013 Bar president with 7,498 votes. Campbell was second with 6,782, while Schickel received 3,973 votes.

Exclusive to the Broward County Bar Association, see the two remaining candidates put forth their platforms at the BCBA’s “Candidate Night,” held March 16th.

Election Video

For more election information, visit the Florida Bar website.