Relief Arrives For Court Reporters
From the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
Court reporters can breathe easy now.
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a budget fix into law Thursday that fully funds the state’s courtroom stenographers for the rest of the fiscal year that ends June 30.
A change in how the state allocated money for the reporters this year would have left them short on dollars next month, causing judges across the state to scramble to ensure official case records could be maintained and court delays would be mitigated.
Many judges announced layoffs and furloughs, and many began implementing them last week.
But legislators this week coalesced around a measure that allocates up to $14.1 million for reporters while also patching holes in other state budget lines for child care, prison guards and education that amounted to $1.6 billion.
The plan gives Rauner the legal authority to appropriate $1.3 billion from special funds while also implementing a 2.25 percent cut to numerous services.
That means the cost-saving plans mandated by the Illinois Supreme Court and crafted by the state’s chief judges that included unpaid days off, indefinite leaves and other moves for the state’s 546 court reporters have been averted for the foreseeable future.
“Emergency procedures that were in effect because of the funding crisis will be rescinded, and those which were planned will not have to go into effect,” said Joseph R. Tybor, the high court’s spokesman.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
Court reporters can breathe easy now.
Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a budget fix into law Thursday that fully funds the state’s courtroom stenographers for the rest of the fiscal year that ends June 30.
A change in how the state allocated money for the reporters this year would have left them short on dollars next month, causing judges across the state to scramble to ensure official case records could be maintained and court delays would be mitigated.
Many judges announced layoffs and furloughs, and many began implementing them last week.
But legislators this week coalesced around a measure that allocates up to $14.1 million for reporters while also patching holes in other state budget lines for child care, prison guards and education that amounted to $1.6 billion.
The plan gives Rauner the legal authority to appropriate $1.3 billion from special funds while also implementing a 2.25 percent cut to numerous services.
That means the cost-saving plans mandated by the Illinois Supreme Court and crafted by the state’s chief judges that included unpaid days off, indefinite leaves and other moves for the state’s 546 court reporters have been averted for the foreseeable future.
“Emergency procedures that were in effect because of the funding crisis will be rescinded, and those which were planned will not have to go into effect,” said Joseph R. Tybor, the high court’s spokesman.
Read more in our daily News Update...