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​Assembly Passes Job Killer Bill Inflating Businesses’ Liability Costs

​(January 31, 2012) A California Chamber of Commerce-opposed “job killer” bill that creates uncertainty, inefficiency and unpredictability for litigants, further aggravating California’s reputation as a bad place to do business, by decentralizing control of trial court funds passed the Assembly yesterday.

AB 1208 (C. Calderon; D-Montebello) goes far beyond increasing the fiscal accountability of the judicial branch, and instead blurs the separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches.

AB 1208 will undermine uniformity of the laws and rules governing state courts and harm statewide court programs, creating uncertainty and unpredictability for California employers and other litigants, and driving more employers from the state and harming the economy.

Other problems with AB 1208 include:

  • Grants the Legislature inappropriate influence over management of the judicial branch, including prioritizing funding and making substantive decisions about how to promote efficiencies and cost-saving measures, and ensure equal access to justice.
  • Allows two to three courts to override important judicial branch policies and statewide needs.  
  • Prevents helping courts in dire emergencies. By requiring the Judicial Council to allocate every dollar that is appropriated for trial court operations, the bill eliminates the ability of the Judicial Council to set aside money to assist courts dealing with especially difficult fiscal circumstances.   
  • Allows a single court to benefit at the expense of the entire justice system. For example, a court could choose to keep extra funds to upgrade its facilities, preventing the branch from using those resources to provide legal services for the poor system wide or prevent court shutdowns at a court facing greater financial hardship.

AB 1208 was the subject of a Los Angeles Times editorial on January 24 and a Dan Walters column on January 25 in The Sacramento Bee.

Key Vote

The January 30 vote on AB 1208 was: 41-25.

Ayes: Allen (D-Santa Rosa), Beall (D-San Jose), Bradford (D-Gardena), Butler (D-Marina del Rey), Calderon (D-Montebello), Cedillo (D-Los Angeles),  Davis (D-Los Angeles) , Eng (D-Monterey Park), Fletcher (R-San Diego), Fuentes (D-Sylmar), Furutani (D-South Los Angeles County), Gaines (R-Roseville), Galgiani (D-Livingston), Garrick (R-Carlsbad), Grove (R-Bakersfield), Hagman (R-Chino Hills), Hall (D-Los Angeles), Harkey (R-Dana Point), Hernández (D-West Covina), Hill (D-San Mateo), Huber (D-El Dorado Hills), Hueso (D-Logan Heights), Jeffries (R-Lake Elsinore), Jones (R-Santee), Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), Ma (D-San Francisco), Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa), Mendoza (D-Norwalk), Miller (R-Corona), Norby (R-Fullerton), Pan (D-Natomas), John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles), Silva (R-Huntington Beach), Skinner (D-Berkeley), Smyth (R-Santa Clarita), Solorio (D-Anaheim), Swanson (D-Alameda), Torres (D-Pomona), Valadao (R-Hanford), Wagner (R-Irvine), Williams (D-Santa Barbara).

Noes:  Achadjian (R-San Luis Obispo), Alejo (D-Watsonville), Atkins (D-South Park/Golden Hill), Berryhill (R-Ceres), Brownley (D-Santa Monica), Buchanan (D-Alamo), Campos (D-San Jose), Carter (R-Rialto),  Chesbro (D-North Coast), Conway (R-Tulare), Cook (R-Yucca Valley), Dickinson (D-Woodlake), Feuer (D-Los Angeles), Gatto (D-Los Angeles), Halderman (R-Fresno), Hayashi (D-Hayward), Huffman (D-San Rafael), Logue (R-Linda), Monning (D-Carmel), Morrell (R-Rancho Cucamonga), Nestande (R-Palm Desert), Nielsen (R-Gerber), Olsen (R-Modesto), Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), Yamada (D-Davis).

Absent, Abstaining, Not Voting: Ammiano (D-San Francisco), Block (D-San Diego), Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley), Bonilla (D-Concord), Donnelly (R-Twin Peaks), Fong (D-Cupertino), Gordon (D-Menlo Park), Gorell (R-Camarillo), Knight (R-Antelope Valley), Lara (D-Los Angeles), Mitchell (D-Los Angeles), Perea (D-Fresno),  M. Pérez (D-Coachella), Wieckowski (D-Fremont).

Staff Contact: Mira Guertin

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