In January court reporters across the state were notified of a little snafu in the budget for our salaries. The mistake occurred in July, but no one fixed it. Fast forward to January, and we have a new governor. The tables have turned and the issue has exploded. It is a political tug-o-war, no doubt, and one in which the low-on-the-totem-pole official court reporters in our sweet state will suffer.
In the past, we have had hints of problems like this before and they always resolve. No one ever really worries about them, but this time is/was different. Two weeks ago, the Supremes directed our chief judges to come up with emergency plans for the crisis.
The present crisis is this - the court reporting salary line item depletes on April 24. It needs to last until June 30. Three full months. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of 550-600 reporters in our state, I'm guessing the majority are women. Can you imagine the chaos that this has created?
Every circuit has implemented their own plan, or will implement their own plan on April 1. Many have already started. It is sad to see that reporters with 35+ years of experience are being laid off come April 1. Yes, they are eligible to retire, but they don't want to or they would have already.
Our plan doesn't begin until April 1. At that time, the reporters in our circuit will work two days a week and be furloughed three days. My little county will be able to carry on, pretty much without complete disaster, but I cannot imagine the much larger counties! Even with our plan in place, it doesn't stretch the money our circuit has through the end of June. Something else will have to go down...that could get interesting.
I'm very fortunate in that my family receives our health insurance through Jay's employer. If that were not the case, I might be in a bigger panic myself. The powers-that-be are very aware of that situation and say they will do their best to make sure the majority will work enough to keep their insurance. One has to be furloughed 31 days to lose the insurance. I saw one reporter that has just been diagnosed with breast cancer...I pray she doesn't lose her insurance. The stress that poor girl has to be under...
We have a Facebook page for our state reporters and it really has been informative, but also depressing. I try not to get too caught up in the postings because some people are really struggling and having a very difficult time. I'm more of a positive person, so I just keep thinking, it will work out.
I have learned that despite what is catastrophic to us, as reporters, the powers-that-be have continued to work on important issues such as declaring Pumpkin Pie the official state pie, sweet corn as our official state vegetable and implementing a Dan Fogelberg day. I laugh because it is truly laughable.
As of last night there has finally been a little bit of sunshine in our storm. A house bill has been proposed to be voted on. It is positive, but as I said, this is a political battle, and we are very low on the totem pole. I'm somewhat hopeful it will be resolved sooner rather than later, which is what I was beginning to think. I just looked and the bill has passed through the committee. I really don't understand how it all works, I suppose now would be a good time to learn.
I wouldn't mind a couple days off, even without pay, but long-term it doesn't sound so great...and for many that have serious situations it could be a nightmare. I remain hopeful!
No comments:
Post a Comment