While Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed 2013-14 state budget was hailed in many government quarters upon its release yesterday, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye had to settle for being “relieved” that it wasn’t much worse for the judicial branch.

The governor announced a $97.7 billion general fund budget—made possible by new tax revenues and last year’s budget cuts—which includes a small surplus, an extra $250 million for higher education, a plan to stabilize K-12 education funding, and modest increases for social services and health care programs. The last two rely on the state's willingness to expand Medi-Cal under the federal health care reform law and are dependent on negotiations between the state and federal government.

But the judiciary, which has seen large budget cuts four years in a row, will have to pay its operating expenses by pulling another $200 million out of a fund it uses for courthouse construction. The courts have been spending down reserves and shifting money around for years to mitigate service and infrastructure cutbacks, but those backups will be exhausted by 2014. Courthouses have been closed, services have been curtailed and court calendars have been further clogged by funding cuts.   

Cantil-Sakauye said that unless hundreds of millions of dollars are restored to the budget for courts before final approval in six months, courthouses in Los Angeles, Fresno and San Bernardino counties will have to close. “This budget doesn’t answer our problems and our challenges,” she told the Los Angeles Times.

One of the judiciary’s ongoing challenges will be paying at least $35 million a year for 35 years for the new $490 million Long Beach Courthouse. Court officials expressed surprise in November when they were told the general fund would not pay for the Long Beach facility and they would have to tap a $5 billion bond fund established in 2008 for courthouse renovation and construction. Twenty courthouse projects were abruptly put on hold.

A report by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office in November was highly critical of the public-private partnership entered into by the judicial branch in 2010 to build the Long Beach facility. The Analyst said a traditional bid-develop plan would have saved $160 million.

The courts competed all year in 2012 for scarce construction funds, making their pitches in a public display that one participant likened to a “Jerry Lewis telethon,” where the saddest story gets the most response and a tote board rings up the results.

Governor Brown's budget proposal will be revised in May and lawmakers have until June 15 to send their version of the plan back to the governor.

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Brown Gives Cutbacks a Break in New Budget for California Schools (by William Dotinga, Courthouse News Service)

Brown's Budget Won't Forestall Court Closures, Chief Justice Says (by Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times)

California Budget Buoyed by Higher Tax Revenues in 2013-14 Fiscal Year (by Judy Lin and Juliet Williams, Associated Press)

Courts Given Reprieve in Budget (by Maria Dinzeo, Courthouse News Service)

Courthouse Building Projects Put on Hold (by Maria Dinzeo, Courthouse News Service)