Judge: 'Impending Sense Of Doom' Could Force State Budget Fix
From the Chicago Daily Herald
Time is running out for lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner to find a budget fix that will allow the state to keep paying for court reporters across the suburbs.
The money for their salaries runs out at the end of the month, raising big questions about how courts will continue to operate without reporters tapping away during hearings the law requires them to attend.
Kane County Chief Judge Judith Brawka said this week that one thing is clear: The courts won't close down completely. Judges won't allow it.
But changes could be coming soon. The state's more than 20 chief judges have been told by the office that runs the court system to each come up with a "emergency operating plan" to, basically, figure out how to go forward in case the state doesn't come through.
That means some suburban counties could start making cutbacks or changes well before the end-of-March deadline.
The chief judges are set to meet March 20 to talk about those ways forward. There are a lot of options, none easy, Brawka said.
Brawka says she remains hopeful Rauner and top Democrats will cut a deal before funding runs out. Deadlines, she says, and the "impending sense of doom" that come with them, tend to motivate deal-making.
"At a crisis point, they find a solution," Brawka said.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Daily Herald
Time is running out for lawmakers and Gov. Bruce Rauner to find a budget fix that will allow the state to keep paying for court reporters across the suburbs.
The money for their salaries runs out at the end of the month, raising big questions about how courts will continue to operate without reporters tapping away during hearings the law requires them to attend.
Kane County Chief Judge Judith Brawka said this week that one thing is clear: The courts won't close down completely. Judges won't allow it.
But changes could be coming soon. The state's more than 20 chief judges have been told by the office that runs the court system to each come up with a "emergency operating plan" to, basically, figure out how to go forward in case the state doesn't come through.
That means some suburban counties could start making cutbacks or changes well before the end-of-March deadline.
The chief judges are set to meet March 20 to talk about those ways forward. There are a lot of options, none easy, Brawka said.
Brawka says she remains hopeful Rauner and top Democrats will cut a deal before funding runs out. Deadlines, she says, and the "impending sense of doom" that come with them, tend to motivate deal-making.
"At a crisis point, they find a solution," Brawka said.
Read more in our daily News Update...