Initial court budgets released.

State Courts Administrator Lisa Goodner said budget proposals released by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice and the House Justice Appropriations Committee are good starting points in addressing the state court system's funding needs.

"I'm very encouraged and feel good about the level of attention that both houses have given to our issues," she said. "I think what they've done is gotten us on a good path to getting a good outcome."

Pay and Retention

While funding for the courts' top priority, $15.6 million for employee pay and retention, was not included in either budget, Goodner said she believes lawmakers will make good on promises to address the issue.

"Sen. [Rob] Bradley, [R-Orange Park] our appropriations subcommittee chair, said in committee that issue is still being addressed," Goodner said. "It's just not being addressed in this budget. They've not made a firm commitment as to how and when it will be addressed, but it is still very much on the table and part of their discussions about funding for the courts."

Goodner noted the subcommittee's budgets are "the first stop in three significant stops in the development of the Appropriations Act."

As this News went to press, both chambers were expected to release their full budget proposals by the end of March, after which the entities will go into conference to work out the differences between the House and Senate proposals.

"I am not concerned that [employee pay] was not addressed at the first stop, especially given the assurances in the committee meetings that the Senate held [recently] that it is under active consideration," Goodner said. "When they put the whole Appropriations Act together, the provisions for pay are often added in a separate section of the bill, in what they refer to as the back of the bill.

"There is clearly opportunity for them to address this issue at the next stop. That being said, quite often the House and Senate don't put forth pay recommendations until they produce the final joint bill."

The state courts have requested a minimum 3.5 percent salary increase for all non-judge employees.

The budget request recognizes that there has been a big lag between salaries and the rate of inflation, which has increased 15.9 percent cumulatively over the past seven years.

In a comprehensive study of employee pay across the three branches of state government, the courts system found the average salary of its employees is 12.59 percent lower...