Dec. 16, 2009 – The State Bar of Wisconsin is urging the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee to approve two bills to expand financial eligibility for the appointment of a public defender.
The legislation needs the approval of the powerful budget-writing committee – which controls the purse strings of state government – before it can advance for a floor vote in either legislative house, possibly as soon as late January.
The bills, Assembly Bill 395 and Senate Bill 263, would expand state financial eligibility for public defender representation from the antiquated 1987 AFDC limits to current W-2 limits, which generally are 115 percent of the federal poverty level.
“It is time for the State of Wisconsin to meet its obligation to make justice accessible to the poor by updating SPD eligibility limits as proposed in AB 395 and SB 263,” said a State Bar memo sent to committee members and legislative leaders last week. “The State Bar of Wisconsin urges you to approve this legislation.”
The State Bar’s Board of Governors has a long-standing position in favor of using federal poverty guidelines as minimum financial criteria for determining indigence and eligibility for constitutionally mandated appointment of counsel.
Even if approved by Joint Finance, the proposals - introduced in August by Representative Gary Sherman and Senator Spencer Coggs - may face an uncertain future. They are similar to a provision legislators already passed earlier this year in the state budget and which Gov. Jim Doyle subsequently vetoed in June.
Both the Assembly and Senate judiciary committees held a joint hearing on the bills in October. State Bar President Douglas Kammer submitted written testimony at that hearing in support of the legislation, telling the two committees the State Bar supports the increased eligibility levels in AB 395 and SB 263 because “a free society cannot deny justice to the poor and remain free.”
“Outdated eligibility limits for a public defender are part of a mosaic of issues, all related to chronic under-funding of our justice system and lack of access to justice for those of limited means,” President Kammer added. “The need for this legislation is great.”
Both judiciary committees subsequently approved the bills following the joint public hearing, sending them on to Joint Finance.
State budget contained similar provision, which was vetoed
Because financial eligibility standards for public defender representation are set by statute and have not been updated since 1987, many of Wisconsin’s poorest citizens are left without access to public defender representation.
State lawmakers have previously introduced bills in the 2003, 2005 and 2007 legislative sessions to update and simplify the eligibility criteria. Despite broad, bipartisan support, none of those bills passed before those sessions ended.
Earlier this year during its deliberations on the state budget, the Joint Finance Committee inserted language into the state budget to expand SPD financial eligibility for public defender representation, similar to the language now contained in AB 395 and SB 263.
However, when Gov. Doyle signed the 2009-11 biennial state budget into law on June 29, he used his line-item veto power to eliminate the Joint Finance eligibility proposal. If not vetoed by Gov. Doyle, the increased eligibility levels would have taken effect at the end of the current biennium, on June 30, 2011.
As part of that now-vetoed plan, the Legislature had approved hiring 32 new SPD staff attorneys and 17 support positions to accommodate the anticipated increase in the State Public Defender’s caseload. Because the changes would not have been effective until the last day of the current biennium, they would have had no fiscal effect on the 2009-11 state biennial budget. However, when fully implemented, the estimated cost associated with this year’s Joint Finance proposal would have been $4.6 million annually. Assembly Bill 395 and Senate Bill 263 are estimated to have similar provisions and costs.
Continue to monitor WisBar.org and visit the State Bar’s Government Relations page for updated legislative information.
By
Adam Korbitz, Government Relations Coordinator, State Bar of Wisconsin
Related articles:
State Bar supports expanded public defender eligibility limits at joint hearing - October 7, 2009
Lawmakers continue push for increased public defender eligibility limits – September 2, 2009
Governor signs state budget into law – June 29, 2009
Joint Finance expands SPD eligibility, boosts indigent civil legal services – May 27, 2009
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