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 | Vol. 35, Number 9—September 2003 Judiciary Faces Severe Constraints in FY04
The Judiciary requested an 11 percent increase for FY 2004 to meet mandatory expenses such as rent and judicial salaries, pay adjustments and inflation, and for staffing associated with a growing and uncontrollable workload throughout the courts. The House Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for FY 2004 gives the Judiciary a 6.3 percent increase. The Senate Appropriations Committee, with a budget allocation $900 million below what was allocated to the House, gave the Judiciary a 3.9 percent increase over FY 2003 funding in the Senate Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies Appropriation bill. With few exceptions, Judiciary accounts in the Senate bill are funded below current service levels. "Our final congressional appropriations could fall significantly below our real needs," warned Judge John G. Heyburn, chair of the Judicial Conference Budget Committee. "If allotments should fall below last year's levels, staffing reductions will result in many courts." The FY 2004 budget constraints are a response not only to a growing federal budget deficit, but to Congress's continued priority on homeland security, defense, and the war on terrorism, which has left less for domestic programs. The Judiciary will not be alone in feeling the funding squeeze, but there are limits to how well the Judiciary can manage an increasing workload on an extremely austere budget. "We, the Budget Committee members, our other judge contacts, and the Administrative Office staff," promised Administrative Office Director Leonidas Ralph Mecham, "will launch a major new effort to educate Congress on the need for significant additional funding and the negative impact the lower appropriations will have on the Judiciary." The final Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies appropriations bill faces an uncertain future. A provision in the Senate bill effectively blocks implementation of new media ownership rules by the Federal Communications Commission. Although the House bill contains a similar provision and therefore should not be a point of contention at conference, the White House has threatened to veto any bill with language nullifying the FCC rule. Funding for Courthouses & Employee COLA With the Senate Appropriations Committee mark-up of the Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of 2004, funding for courthouse construction and repair and alteration projects has finally been included in pending legislation for FY 2004. The bill still must be passed by the Senate and then conferenced with the House, which has not included funds for courthouses in its version of the bill. "This is a major breakthrough," said Director Mecham, "especially in light of the tight fiscal constraints under which Congress is operating and the fact that no funds were included in the President's budget request for courthouse construction projects, or in any House appropriations bills... I want to commend Judge Jane Roth, chair of the Conference Committee on Security and Facilities, for her leadership and tireless efforts in working with Congress to present the Judiciary's needs." The Senate bill would provide $204.6 million to the General Services Administration, which builds and operates the Judiciary's courthouses, for the first nine projects on the Judiciary's Five-Year Courthouse Construction Plan. These are Los Angeles, California; Richmond, Virginia; San Antonio, Texas; Anniston, Alabama; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Greenville, South Carolina; Toledo, Ohio; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Orlando, Florida. The bill provides full funding for all of these projects, except Los Angeles, which is funded at a lower level. All repair and alteration projects have been funded. In addition, the Senate Transportation, Treasury and General Government Appropriations Bill of 2004 as well as the House Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Bill of 2004 contain provisions authorizing a 4.1 percent pay adjustment for General Schedule (GS) employees, which would apply to employees of the federal Judiciary. The 4.1 percent proposed COLA is intended to maintain parity between GS and military COLAs. Federal employees were slated to receive a two-part pay increase in January 2004—a 2.7 percent across-the-board increase, plus locality pay. However, President Bush has proposed that federal employees receive a base increase of 1.5 percent and a locality based comparability pay adjustment averaging 0.5 percent. "Our national situation precludes granting larger pay increases to GS employees at this time," Bush said. | |
The Judiciary faces potentially unprecedented budget constraints in Fiscal Year 2004 if low appropriations levels proposed in the House and Senate are adopted.| Published monthly by theAdministrative Office of the U.S. CourtsOffice of Public Affairs One Columbus Circle, N.E.Washington, DC 20544 — (202) 502-2600 |