Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

Posted:	March 31, 2017 02:19 PM
From:	Senator Bob Mensch
To:	All Senate members
Subject:	Enacting LBFC recommendations to the Access to Justice Act

In 2002 the General Assembly passed the Access to Justice Act, which established a fund to provide civil legal aid assistance to poor and disadvantaged persons in the Commonwealth through the imposition of a fee on filings in state courts and collections by county row officers. Act 81 of 2006 extended the act's sunset provision and required a Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) performance audit one year prior to the act's sunset. Act 79 of 2012 extended the sunset an additional 5 years and again required a LBFC performance audit one year prior to the act's sunset. In the LBFC's performance audit submitted in February of 2017, they have recommended that the Access to Justice Act's sunset provision be removed along with the LBFC performance audit requirement. This legislation will remove Title 42 Section 4907, effectively implementing the LBFC's recommendations from their 2017 performance audit. Please join me in co-sponsoring this piece of legislation. If you have any questions please call Bill Joraskie 717-787-3110.
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