SACRAMENTO Governor Jerry Brown signed a flurry of legislation Wednesday and Thursday that chops $544 million from California’s judiciary and enacts sweeping new court financing policies.
The budget, which takes effect Sunday, will drain $235 million from local courts’ reserves, redirect $240 million that was supposed to fund court construction and cut another $50 million in funding (on top of a $100 million cut the branch had already agreed to take). The spending plan also starts a two-year clock ticking on local courts’ long-coveted authority to maintain fund balances. As of July 2014, courts will no longer be able to keep more than one percent of local money in reserve.
