LAAC Advocacy Alert:
Update on Legal Representation Pilot Projects

Both the Governor's proposed and May revised budgets included $5 million in the Judiciary's budget to create pilot projects to provide representation to low-income Californians in civil matters.

As key statewide stakeholders began brainstorming about the possible format for such pilots, a Joint Task Force was created to work out the details, including recommendations for the providers of representation, an RFP process by the courts to select local pilots, and other details of how the pilot projects might be envisioned. The Task Force was staffed jointly by LAAC, the Access Commission, and the AOC (Administrative Office of the Courts), with representatives from the courts, the private bar, and legal services programs.

The Task Force produced a proposed description of the pilot projects, which was vetted by legal services organizations at the April 25th Statewide Stakeholders meeting. A final version of the description, which includes the comments/feedback from the April 25th meeting, is available at: www.CALegalAdvocates.org/link.cfm?8293.

HOWEVER - the legislative budget process has produced some significant changes in the overall concept of the Legal Representation Pilot Projects. On May 22nd, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee reduced the funding for the pilot projects to $2.5 million, focused the projects solely on representation in family law matters, opened up the providers of the services beyond legal services programs, and named the court's Self-Help Centers as the contracting entities.

In addition, the Senate Budget Subcommittee had not included any funding in their proposed budget for the pilot projects. As a result, the pilot project proposal, as reworked significantly changed by the Assembly Budget Subcommittee and with $2.5 million, will go through the Joint Legislative Budget Conference Committee process, which is projected to start tomorrow.

Several versions of possible budget trailer language have been circulating, and LAAC has been commenting on these versions in light of the drastic changes to the proposal as agreed on by the Joint Task Force. However, given these major changes created by the Assembly budget process, it is impossible to tell now what the outcome for the pilot projects idea will be.