Senate Judiciary Committee "holds" AB 2301 - no vote taken!

Senator Joe Dunn, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, took a suprising and highly unusual action yesterday afternoon on AB 2301 (Committee on Judiciary)(legal services funding). After Assembly Member Jones presented the bill and all witnesses, including LAAC, testified in support, Senator Dunn announced that he was not going to take a vote on the bill, but would instead hold the bill in the committee until some unspecified date in the future. In the meantime, he said, he wanted to have a discussion with Assembly Member Jones about funding for court facilities. It was not entirely clear why Senator Dunn is holding this bill. The Judicial Council does not have any pending proposals regarding funding for court facilities and did not request this action by Senator Dunn.

Everyone concerned about AB 2301 and the opportunities it offers to expand voluntary contributions by attorneys to support legal services should immediately contact Senator Dunn's office to request that he allow this bill to be voted on at the next hearing on Tuesday June 20. If Senator Dunn does not allow this bill out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by the end of the month, it will die.

Click on "doc" above to access LAAC's template for a letter to Senator Dunn expressing your concern.

(if you are prompted about read-only format when opening it, choose "no".)