Appropriations for FY2005: Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Page: 87 of 94
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CRS-80
The FY2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 108-447) provides $2.6
million for SJI. However, as the result of two across-the-board rescissions in the
act, discretionary spending in the SJI account is reduced by 1.34%. (Earlier, the
House approved $2.2 million for SJI in FY2005, the same as its FY2004
appropriation, while the Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $3.0
million.)
Over the past three fiscal years, Congress has approved funding for SJI at a level
significantly below previous levels. For FY1999, 2000 and 2001, SJI received an
annual appropriation of $6.85 million, compared with $3.0 million in both FY2002
and FY2003 and $2.2 million in FY2004. For their part, conferees for the CJS
appropriations bills in the last three fiscal years have encouraged the institute to
obtain funds from sources other than Congress. In response to specific directives
from conferees for the FY2002 and FY2003 CJS bills, SJI explored the availability
of support from private donors, state and local agencies, state and local bar
associations, and state court systems, but was unable to secure funding from any of
them. In FY2004, conferees on the CJS bill encouraged SJI to apply for funding
from programs in the Department of Justice (DOJ) which support state court
programs, and discussions between SJI and DOJ officials followed. In November
2003, an inter-agency agreement was reached between SJI and DOJ's Office on
Violence Against Women, for the latter to transfer $1.2 million to the institute to
support state court projects educating judges about rape, sexual assault, and other
violence against women. Adding the $1.2 million from the inter-agency agreement
increased the funds available to SJI in FY2004 to $3.45 million. The institute also
has been in recent discussions with the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice
Assistance to pursue other possible fund transfers to SJI.
SJI said its FY2005 request for a $4.75 million increase over its FY2004
appropriation would support: a continuation of its national technical assistance
program addressing the highest priorities identified by state courts; an anti-terrorism
initiative to protect highly vulnerable and symbolic courthouses from violent acts;
and an expansion of the institute's Special Interest categories beyond the five high
priority areas in current SJI guidelines. (SJIis currently awarding grants in these five
categories: Access to the Courts, Application of Technology in the Courts, Children
and Families in Court; Judicial Branch Education, and The Relationship Between
State and Federal Courts.)On June 23, 2004, the House Appropriations Committee approved H.R. 4754, its
CJS-Judiciary appropriations bill for FY2005. In its report on the bill, the committee
explained its funding support for SJI, despite the fact that the President's budget
proposed eliminating federal funding for the institute. The committee observed that
the President's budget provided a variety of grant programs to assist state courts
under the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) in the Department of Justice. The
committee commended SJI for beginning to work with OJP in FY2004 and
encouraged SJI to continue to seek funds from OJP grant programs. The committee
noted that SJI has been unable to generate stable sources of non-federal funding.
While SJIhas contacted bar associations and court organizations, the committee said,
"these groups are not inclined to contribute to operations of the SJI beyond providing
matching grant funds for individual projects. For this reason, the Committee has
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Fergusson, Ian F. & Epstein, Susan B. Appropriations for FY2005: Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies, report, January 12, 2005; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs7885/m1/87/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.