State Sen. Jose Rodríguez, D-El Paso, attached an amendment that helps pay for indigent defense to an important "non-tax revenue" bill now being considered in the Senate.
The bill frees up more than $4 billion in the budget over the next two years to help mitigate deep cuts in areas such as public education and health care. It would do that primarily through various accounting techniques that include delaying payments to public school districts.
Rodriguez, by a narrow 17-14 margin, got approval to add on his measure that would help pay for indigent defense and basic legal services for the poor by establishing a $5 fee at justice courts and municipal courts on convictions that do not include pedestrian citations or parking tickets. The measure would bring in about $32.6 million over the next two years for the services.
The "non-tax revenue" bill, which now includes the amendment, is still being debated. If the bill passes with the amendment, it would replace a measure by Rodríguez that is awaiting final passage in the Senate after tentatively passing two weeks ago.
The Rodríguez measure that could be replaced would establish a $10 fee at justice courts and municipal courts and a $2 document-recording fee on nonjudicial filings such as marriage certificates and property records. It would collect an estimated $77.5 million in the next biennium.
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