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Committee moves pay-raise bill for court reporters and approves amendment changing "may" to "shall"
Summary
The committee advanced SB 28-99, a bill to raise court-reporter pay, and approved an amendment changing discretionary language to a mandate; members discussed county funding responsibility, a reverse repealer, and workforce shortages that some said could be eased by allowing freelance work.
The Judiciary Division A committee advanced Senate Bill 28-99, a measure from the court reporters association to increase compensation for court reporters, and approved a floor amendment that changes the bill's language from "may" to "shall." The committee also adopted a reverse-repealer amendment before advancing the committee substitute by voice vote.
The chair described a statewide problem: "we have had a significant problem with court reporters" who are leaving the profession or are hard to hire, and said judges and the association had raised the issue. Committee members debated funding: several senators noted that counties currently pay circuit and local court reporters and that line 16 of the bill states "no amount of increase shall be paid from the state general fund." Concern was expressed about imposing an unfunded mandate on counties. Senator Hobson suggested the shortage might also be affected by a court rule that limits freelance work by court reporters and asked whether permitting reporters to freelance when not assigned to a particular court could help availability.
Senator Sherman, as chair of county affairs, raised concerns about counties reacting to a mandatory pay increase without state funding; committee members said they would consider on-floor amendments to address the supervisors' concerns. The committee said it had been in touch with court reporters' association leadership and the Supreme Court. The committee adopted the amendment changing "may" to "shall," incorporated a reverse repealer, and advanced the bill by voice vote.
