ER Bill Assembly Committee Hearing Today!

4-26-11

The Assembly Judiciary Committee met today to consider AB 803, the electronic recording bill. Its author, Assembly Member Donald Wagner from Orange County, had only one speaker at the hearing: a salesman from CourtSmart, a company that sells digital ER equipment, who spoke in support of the bill.

CCRA was there and immediate past president Carolyn Dasher was the first to speak in opposition to the bill which would have required the trial courts to implement ER in 20% or more of courtrooms per year, excluding felony courts, until the replacement of court reporters is complete.

In a resounding show of support to the state's court reporters, organizations from all facets of the judiciary spoke in opposition to the bill, including the Los Angeles County Court Reporters Association (LACCRA), California District Attorneys Association, California Public Defenders Association, California Attorneys For Criminal Justice, Statewide Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, California Federation of Court Interpreters, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), FPT Local 21, California Official Court Reporters Association, Laborers Local 777, 792, San Diego County Court Employees Association, California Labor Federation, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the California Judges Association, and California Defense Counsel.

Assemblyman Dickenson made the following observation regarding the array of opposition organizations present to speak against the bill: "Mr. Wagner, I have to give you credit. You brought together the public defenders, the judges, and the DA. That's not accomplished very often."

When the vote was taken, there were six "no" votes and two "aye" votes. The vote was left open for the end of the day for one absent legislator to cast his vote. What that means is the bill is essentially D-E-A-D! We say "essentially dead," because nothing is dead until it's actually DEAD. When we get the official word that we are out of the woods, we will declare the victory.

More details will be available soon on CCRA's website - www.cal-ccra.org, including a transcript of the proceedings.

In the past couple of months, CCRA members and directors met with the Assembly Judiciary Committee members and/or their staff, painstakingly educating them about our profession and the pitfalls of ER, giving realtime demonstrations, and distributing information regarding the cutting-edge technology that live court reporters provide.

CCRA continues to be the voice for your profession and your advocate in Sacramento.