Courts benefit from Brown’s budget
By Howard Mintz, San Jose Mercury News
Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest spending plan appears to further treat the California judiciary’s wounded budgets, adding about $180 million to court systems trying to recover from years of financial cuts.
The governor’s 2015-16 budget bumps the state court system’s budget from last year’s $3.29 billion to $3.47 billion, with most of that increase headed to the 58 trial courts around California hit hardest by past cutbacks.
Under the governor’s budget, the judiciary’s budget would inch closer to the $3.7 billion allocated in 2007-08. In fact, with the use of trial court reserve money required under previous budgets, the governor’s staff pegs spending on the judicial branch at about $3.7 billion in the 2015-16 fiscal year.