LAAC ADVOCACY UPDATE

On Friday, September 26, the Governor signed SB 1407 (Perata). This bill will provide $5 billion in lease-revenue bonds to finance new construction and renovation projects for court facilities throughout the state. Thank you for all of the letters that you and your organizations submitted in support of SB 1407. Here is a link to information about the bill:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=sb_1407&sess=CUR&house=B&author=perata

On Saturday, September 27, the Governor signed AB 2448 (Feuer). This bill revises the statutory provisions by which indigent litigants can obtain a waiver of court fees. Here is a link to information about AB 2448: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_2448&sess=CUR&house=B&search_type=email

Unfortunately, the Governor vetoed AB 3050 (Jones) on Saturday. This bill would have helped prevent fraudulent misuse of the term “legal aid,” and would have created a working group and a small pilot project to provide interpreters to parties who cannot afford a private interpreter in important civil cases. The Governor’s veto message was the standard one he has been using repeatedly: "The historic delay in passing the 2008-2009 State Budget has forced me to prioritize the bills sent to my desk at the end of the year’s legislative session. Given the delay, I am only signing bills that are the highest priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard and I cannot sign it at this time."