Office of the President
Dear Lucas:
We wanted to share with you some highlights of our recent legislative involvement. During the last several months, we have been very active on the state and federal levels. For an update, please see the information below.
Sincerely,
Seymour W. James, Jr., President
Highlights of Legislative Activities
As the debate over the state's 2013-14 budget progressed to its final stage in March, President-Elect David Schraver, Executive Director Patricia Bucklin, Special Counsel Richard Rifkin, Governmental Relations Director Ronald Kennedy, and I had a series of meetings with Governor Andrew Cuomo's counsel, state legislators, and their staffs to promote NYSBA's legislative priorities.
Once the state budget process concluded with the passage of a budget in late March, we turned our attention to promoting NYSBA's non-budgetary legislative priorities. For example, on April 30, we met to discuss legislative priorities with gubernatorial representatives, key legislators, and their staffs.
Our state legislative priorities for 2013 are as follows: (1) integrity of New York's justice system; (2) integrity of New York's juvenile justice system; (3) revision of the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law; (4) sealing records regarding conviction of certain crimes; and (5) support for the legal profession.
1. Judiciary Budget
I am pleased to report that the Legislature approved the Judiciary's budget for 2013-14 as submitted. The final budget includes $40 million to continue implementing recommendations relating to a crisis in civil legal services. At a time when some members of Congress continue to call for the elimination of the national Legal Services Corporation, the need for responsible action in New York State is all the more critical. The Association strongly supported the Judiciary's $40 million request.
NYSBA also applauded the Legislature's renewed approval of the Judiciary's $15 million allocation for the New York State Interest on Lawyer Account Fund ("IOLA"). This allocation will help offset declining IOLA revenue resulting from low interest rates and a decline in the number of real estate transactions.
We supported the Judiciary's inclusion of $8.2 million in its budget to implement the second phase of a salary increase for judges. A well-functioning judiciary is critical to our system of government. It safeguards the rights of all New Yorkers, while resolving both criminal and civil disputes in a fair and impartial manner. Salary stagnation is more than a personal hardship for judges. It threatens to undermine our judicial system, making it harder to attract and retain talented judges.
2. Office of Indigent Legal Services
During this year's budget process, I repeatedly urged lawmakers to restore funds to the budget for the Office of Indigent Legal Services (the "Office"). Some of their funds would have been eliminated under the Executive's proposed budget. I also urged lawmakers to increase operating funds for the Office. Every year since the creation of the Office, we have urged state policymakers to provide adequate funding for the Office to carry out its responsibilities. In some years, we have had to work very hard to prevent some members of the New York State Legislature from dismantling the Office. I am happy to report that there was no battle this year over the Office's existence.
The final Executive Budget included a restoration of $4 million for caseload relief in upstate counties and an increase of $300,000 for the Office's operating budget (now at $1.8 million). The final budget provides a total of $81 million in aid to localities for indigent criminal defense programs. Inclusion of this funding in the final budget ensures that the Office continues its important work to enhance the quality of mandated representation in criminal cases. The Office was created after the New York State Commission on the Future of Indigent Defense Services determined in 2006 that there is a "crisis" in the delivery of indigent defense services.
3. Indigent Legal Services Fund
In the waning hours of this year's budget debate, the New York State Legislature considered a "sweep" of $11 million from the Indigent Legal Services Fund ("ILSF"), for deposit into the state's General Fund. Although we lobbied against the sweep, it ultimately was approved.
The sweep is problematic because funds are badly needed to support underfunded county-based programs that struggle to provide legal assistance for indigent criminal defendants. It will jeopardize the ability of New York State to meet the constitutionally protected right to counsel in criminal matters. ILSF funds programs that provide counsel at arraignment, provide caseload relief, and expand assistance to localities operated by the Office of Indigent Legal Services.
Unfortunately, the sweep will transfer earmarked funds that attorneys pay as part of their biennial attorney registration fee. Indeed, the biennial registration fee was increased to provide funding for ILSF. In 2003, NYSBA endorsed the establishment of ILSF specifically because of the promise that an additional portion of the biennial attorney registration fee would be dedicated as a source of permanent funding for ILSF. This funding should not be diverted from the important goal of providing equal access to the justice system for all New Yorkers.
4. Prisoners' Legal Services
We commend Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature for agreeing to a final budget that includes increased funding for Prisoners' Legal Services ("PLS"). PLS is an important state program that NYSBA helped to establish. Despite governmental efforts in past years to eliminate the program, it is our position that PLS is -- and should remain -- a vital, integral part of the state's criminal justice system and a critical component of public safety.
PLS was established in 1976 after the Attica Prison riot, based on a concern that prisoners in New York State lacked access to lawyers for civil legal matters. PLS provides many benefits. For example, PLS helps inmates resolve legal problems, and as a result helps to reduce tensions associated with incarceration. PLS also helps to foster a sense of fairness and to enhance the positive attitudes and behavior of prisoners. Finally, it helps in the development of sound correctional policy. We will continue to look for opportunities to support PLS in the future.
5. Not-for-Profit Corporation Law
One of NYSBA's legislative priorities is to revise the state's Not-for-Profit Corporation Law. Based on recommendations from the Business Law Section, our goals are to modernize the law, simplify the incorporation process, and make governance more workable. During the 2013-14 budget process, we were part of a successful effort to eliminate a proposal that did not meet these goals. More recently, we have been working with interested parties, including the New York State Attorney General's Office, for more comprehensive legislation that meets our goals, while taking into account the views of other stakeholders. For example, representatives of our Business Law Section testified on the subject at three hearings held by the New York State Legislature. In addition, we have worked closely with relevant legislative sponsors in both houses. We understand that the sponsors are interested in crafting legislation that can be approved before the current session ends in June. We will continue our efforts to achieve passage of this important legislation.
6. Support for the Legal Profession
With strong input from Legislative Policy Committee Chair Hermes Fernandez and others, general support and promotion of the legal profession is an ever-present item on the Association's legislative agenda. In February, President-Elect David Schraver and I met with Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy, whose duties include economic development for the State of New York. As we discussed with the lieutenant governor, it is important that public officials recognize the significant contributions -- in the billions of dollars -- that the profession makes to New York's economy.
We highlighted a goal that was identified in a report of the State Bar's Task Force on New York Law in International Matters: to maintain and develop New York as the premier forum for international dispute resolution. New York, as a global financial and commercial capital, plays a critical role in choices that the increasingly global business community makes about the formation of agreements and resolution of disputes. Consequently, the development of a New York International Arbitration Center, which was recommended in the Task Force's report, is a positive development for the state and the legal profession. The center is now spearheaded by former Chief Judge Judith Kaye and is scheduled to open in June.
We plan to maintain our line of communication with Lieutenant Governor Duffy and continue to promote the legal profession whenever possible.
7. ABA Days in Washington
Last month, we traveled to Washington, D.C. for "ABA Days." On these days, the ABA sends members from all state bar associations to lobby their congressional delegations. The ABA sets the agenda for the effort, and this year chose funding for the federal courts and the Legal Services Corporation as the two primary issues. We are pleased that these topics were selected because they were topics of a resolution that we proposed to the ABA House of Delegates in February.
The NYSBA representatives that traveled with me to Washington were able to meet with 24 members of our 29-member U.S. Congressional delegation. ABA President-Elect James Silkenat -- who hails from New York -- joined us for some of the meetings. Our group was composed of the following: (1) President-Elect David Schraver; (2) President-Elect Designee Glenn Lau-Kee; (3) Past President Mark Alcott; (4) Past President Vincent Doyle; (5) Past President Kenneth Standard; (6) Tracee Davis, Chair of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section; (7) John Nonna, Chair of the Committee on Federal Legislative Priorities; (8) Sandra Rivera, a member of the Committee on Federal Legislative Priorities; (9) Alan Rothstein, a member of the Committee on Federal Legislative Priorities and a New York City Bar Association representative; and (10) Maria Cilenti, a New York City Bar Association representative.
8. Special Committee on Voter Participation
A report of the Special Committee on Voter Participation was approved by the House of Delegates in January, and we are now moving forward with our efforts to implement the recommendations contained in the report. Committee Co-Chairs John Dunne and Daniel Kolb met with a representative of Governor Andrew Cuomo and with legislators and staff to discuss the report. The committee also has provided 200 copies of the report to state legislative leaders (including members of the election law committees in both houses) and to other stakeholders. The report sets forth recommendations that address the following: (1) modernization of the voter registration system; (2) pre-registration of sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds; (3) Election Day and same day registration; (4) early in-person voting; (5) improved ballot design; (6) the recruitment and training of poll workers; and (7) the provision of more severe and comprehensive penalties for deceptive practices.