Dear MACDL members,
On April 11, the House Committee on Ways & Means released its budget recommendations for the next fiscal year, FY 2019. The House budget provides for an increase in appropriation for private counsel compensation, increasing the rate of compensation for Superior Court cases from $60 to $68 per hour and for Mental Health cases from $50 to $53 per hour.
While we are pleased to see the modest increase for these two line items in the proposed budget, we are disappointed that the budget does not include an increase for District Court appointments.
But it’s not too late to build on the momentum. With your help, we hope make a final push in the coming weeks to impress upon the Senate and House leaders the need to provide for an increase in the District Court hourly rate.
WE NEED ALL OF YOU TO TAKE ACTION.
Please call, write or email your local Senate and House representatives April 30, 2018 and encourage them to support the House budget and an amendment to include an increase in the District Court rate.
If you don’t know your local rep, you can find them by following this link.
We also STRONGLY URGE that you email Robert A. DeLeo, the speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Kindly let us know once you’ve made contact with your state rep and/or Speaker DeLeo, so we can track the number of contacts. On behalf of MACDL’s Legislative Committee, we’d love to hear from you at: MACDL Legislative Committee.
Sincerely,
Derege Demissie
MACDL President
Howard Cooper
Chair, MACDL Legislative Committee
Veronica White
Chair, Sub-Committee on Bar Advocate Compensation Rate