Statement from State Representative Kate Segal (D-Battle Creek) on House Bill 5160 to fill two Court of Appeals vacancies:

“When the State Court Administrative Office recommended that we cut Court of Appeals judgeships because decreased workloads and case filings support that recommendation, the legislature should listen. The Governor did not fill vacant Court of Appeals judgeships at the beginning of the year in order to save taxpayers from unnecessary costs. The House voting to use scarce state dollars to fill unnecessary judgeships in such a frivolous manner is unconscionable. We all know that there is no new money that has suddenly appeared now to fund these positions. In fact, we already passed a state budget that did not have money in it for two of these specific judgeships. House Bill 5160 is a budget-buster, plain and simple. In that same state budget, the Governor and the Republican legislative majority raised taxes on senior citizens, cut unemployment benefits, cut social safety net programs, and took a billion dollars from K-12 education funding because they claimed there was just not enough money to go around. In light of the recommendation of the SCAO to eliminate four superfluous judgeships because of reduced court workload and no money in this year’s budget to fund the vacancies, House Democrats call on the Governor to stick to his original, stated position of not filling the vacant judgeships and veto this bill when it gets to him. “