Legislative Watch

Wisconsin's Biennial Budget Bill Pending
Laws in the Making

by Jenny Boese

GOV. SCOTT MCCALLUM Introduced his first-ever budget bill on Feb. 20, and the Legislature was quickly thrown into its budget season. Introduced as companion legislation under Assembly Bill 144 and Senate Bill 55, the budget bill immediately was referred to the State Legislature's Joint Committee on Finance, arguably the most powerful legislative committee due to its budget writing powers. Cochaired by Sen. Brian Burke (D-Milwaukee) and Rep. John Gard (R-Peshtigo), the Finance Committee is charged with reviewing the budget and then voting on each budget provision. After the Finance Committee crafts a budget, the bill is sent to both houses of the Legislature for their action and, in turn, to the governor.

State Bar Priorities

The State Bar will work with legislators throughout the budget process on num-erous issues. Of those issues, the Bar's priority positions include support of state funding for civil legal services, the Office of the State Public Defender, and for establishing a court interpreter program.

Civil Legal Services. The State Bar strongly supports state funding of civil legal services for low-income individuals and will work with legislators to include this funding in the budget. During the development of last session's budget bill, the Finance Committee provided $200,000 from the federal welfare block grant and directed that that money be used for civil legal services. With the influx of money, poverty firms across the state were able to serve 700 families' legal needs. A continuation of that appropriation was not included in the 2001-02 budget.

To provide access to justice for all individuals regardless of income, the State Bar is asking for $500,000 General Purpose Revenue for civil legal services. Wisconsin is one of only a handful of states that does not provide any state revenue for this purpose. Funding for civil legal services is needed and will be used to help prevent homelessness, to remove women and children from violent family situations, and to protect senior citizens from fraud.

Office of the State Public Defender. The State Bar and its Criminal Law Section strongly support funding of the Office of the State Public Defender (SPD). The budget reduces the appropriation for the SPD by $3.2 million (a 5 percent cut), which will mean the elimination of SPD attorney positions, lengthy delays in payments, and possibly a further reduction of the assigned counsel rate. All Americans are afforded the right to counsel under the 6th Amend-ment to the U.S. Constitution and the state cannot abrogate its constitutional duty to provide for this representation.

The budget also excludes the requested, and long overdue, increase in the private bar rate from the current $40 per hour to $70. This is the rate held to be reasonable by the Wisconsin Supreme Court and codified in Supreme Court Rule 81.02. This rate has received only a minimal increase in 22 years.

Court Interpreters. The State Bar strongly supports providing funding for court interpreters in the court system. This is a priority for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In its budget request, the court asked for $2 million to establish a court interpreter program and increase the state reimbursement to counties for interpreter services. The governor's budget bill only provided $50,000 to the interpreter reimbursement fund and did not establish the program as requested by the supreme court. The goal of the court interpreter program is to increase funding and rates for interpreters, create a certification program for court interpreters, and establish an educational program so that interpreters understand court procedures, terms, and processes.

The State Bar and its practice sections have an interest in other budget provisions. To learn more, contact Jenny Boese at the State Bar at (800) 444-9404, ext. 6045, direct at (608) 250-6045, or email at jboese@wisbar.org.

Wisconsin Lawyer