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Vol. 35, Number 8—August 2003 House Passes '04 Budget for Judiciary On July 23, 2003, the House passed H.R. 2799, the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2004, which contains funding for the federal courts. The President has threatened to veto the bill, however, because of a provision overturning the media ownership rules recently promulgated by the FCC. The Senate will consider a version of the FY 2003 appropriations bill when it returns from recess in September. The House gave the Judiciary a 6.3 percent increase over fiscal year 2003, the highest percentage increase received by any agency in the bill. The Judiciary fared well in a fiscally tight year, thanks to the support of Representatives Frank Wolf (R-VA) and José Serrano (D-NY), the chair and ranking member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary. As Administrative Office Director Leonidas Ralph Mecham pointed out, "Given that the committee had less than a 2.0 percent increase over fiscal year 2003 funding to work with, we were very fortunate to receive the level we did." The Judiciary requested $5.4 billion for fiscal year 2004. The House bill gives the Judiciary $5.19 billion, an increase of $306 million over the FY 2003 appropriation, according to the committee report. Most accounts were funded at or slightly below what is necessary to allow operations at current levels of service, and the Supreme Court and Court Security were funded at levels above current services. "While the levels received for these accounts would in all likelihood be sufficient to allow the Judiciary to continue operations in 2004 without significant cuts to any programs," Mecham warned, "the levels do not allow for any program increases to address the tremendous workload growth that the courts have been experiencing." The Judiciary needs an increase of approximately 7.5 percent to maintain current services. Once mandatory items are fully funded, other areas will be squeezed. Two accounts will face particular difficulties in the coming fiscal year without additional funding. In the House appropriations bill, Defender Services and the Fees of Jurors accounts are more than six percent below current service levels. Funding levels for all accounts may fall in the Senate. The allocation of the Senate Appropriations Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary Subcommittee is $900 million below the House level.

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