Courts/Legal Aid Funding:
Final 2003 Session Report--Revised
June 9, 2003

On May 28 the Governor signed the Judiciary Finance bill. The Court system took an overall 3.09% cut. Legal aid, a line item in the Supreme Court's budget, is cut the same 3.09%. The bill increases many court-related fees to mitigate cuts to the courts. While any cuts are painful, when considering the overall budget situation and that the House had proposed cutting legal aid by 20 %, this is wonderful news.

Thanks to all the members of the legal community who contacted legislators on behalf of the courts and legal aid.

Now it is important to thank Chief Justice Blatz and State Court Administrator Sue Dosal who worked hard to make sure that legislators understood that legal aid is an essential part of the justice system and should not be treated differently or cut more than the courts. Several key legislators also should be thanked. These include Majority Leader John Hottinger, Senate Finance Committee Chair Dick Cohen, Senate State Government, Economic Development and the Judiciary Budget Division Chair Jane Ranum, Senator Leo Foley and Senator Dave Knutson. On the House side thanks should go to Speaker Steve Sviggum, House Judiciary Policy and Finance Committee Chair Steve Smith, and Representatives Eric Lipman and Doug Fuller. Also, Governor Pawlenty's office was instrumental in assuring that legal aid was recognized as a critical part of the justice system and should be treated equally. For legislator contact information, click here.

Looking back on the 2003 session, in early February the Governor unalloted funding for the fiscal year ending June 30. He unalloted 5.8% of legal aid's funds for 2003 ($442,000). This is on top of the 2.3% cut made during the 2002 session that reduced legal aid's base funding to $7,559,000. In the unallotment process, the Governor cut the Supreme Court (apart from legal aid) by 3.7% ($1,291,000), the district courts by 2.6% ($3,844,000), the Court of Appeals by 3.9% ($321,000) and the public defender by 2.8% ($1,537,000).

The Governor's recommendation was for a 10% reduction in appropriations for the FY 2004-05 biennium for the Supreme Court (including legal aid). The House bill contained a 20% cut to legal aid ($1,572,000 each year which would have reduced the base to $5,987,000). The Senate bill contained level funding for legal aid.

The 3.09% annual cut for the 2003-05 biennium will be from the base of $7,559,000 for legal aid and from the original 2003 appropriation levels for the courts.

Go to the LAD Committee web site for background information that was used during the 2003 session about legal aid funding.