Superior Court of California County of Riverside Subject: Governor Brown Signs State Budget; Impact on Riverside County Superior Court Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 09:23:20 -0700 Content-Type: text/plain Superior Court of California County of Riverside 4050 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501 MEDIA ADVISORY June 28, 2013 Contact: Mark A. Cope, Presiding Judge (951) 777-3162 (electronic version available at: http://riverside.courts.ca.gov/media/media.shtml) GOVERNOR BROWN SIGNS STATE BUDGET; IMPACT ON RIVERSIDE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT RIVERSIDE COUNTY: On June 27, 2013, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. signed the state budget for fiscal year 2013-14. While the final budget included some good news for the judicial branch, it unfortunately falls short of the $100 million that had originally been proposed by budget subcommittees in both the Senate and Assembly during the last several weeks. The final budget restores to California’s trial courts $60 million of the funding that has been lost over the last five years. This equates to approximately $3.8 million for the Riverside Superior Court and, along with another internal adjustment made within the branch, restores a total of approximately $5.3 million to the court’s operating budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, 2013. While this is definitely positive news, the amount of restored funding is woefully inadequate to make up for the years of funding reductions which, over the past five years, have reduced the operating budget of the Riverside Superior Court alone by approximately $20 million. Because the restoration of funding is not sufficient to cover operational expenses, additional staff reductions affecting every division in the court will still be necessary. This will involve positions in operations, management, administration, legal, human resources and information technology. In addition, other operational adjustments will need to be made to realize efficiencies and reduce costs, including the planned reductions in services at the Blythe and Temecula courthouses. The court will continue its efforts, both locally and as a branch, to secure the critical funding necessary to keep courthouses opens and public counters staffed. It is disheartening that at the same time the court is struggling with a decimated budget, announcements were just made that state employees are slated to receive pay increases and have planned furloughs cancelled. It is hoped that this same attention and commitment be made by the Governor and Legislature to the judicial branch in the coming months as well. Budget updates and other information regarding public service changes will continue to be posted on the court’s website at www.riverside.courts.ca.gov, through media releases, and by signage posted in local courthouses. ######################################################################## Please Note: You are receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the Riverside Superior Court E-Mail Subscriber Service. To unsubscribe from the RIVERSIDE_COURT list, click the following link: https://listserv.riverside.courts.ca.gov/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=RIVERSIDE_COURT