SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 748

 

with Senate committee amendments

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: NOVEMBER 18, 1996

 

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports without recommendation Senate Bill No. 748 (1R) with committee amendments.

      As amended, Senate Bill No. 748 (1R) increases the fees that may be charged for transcripts prepared by court reporters and transcribers.

        Presently, the authorized fee is $1.50 per page and $0.50 per copy of each page of a transcript; the fee was last increased in 1981. This amount will remain in place for transcripts prepared for the use of a person who is deaf or hearing-impaired.

      For all other persons and purposes, the bill provides for the following phased-in fee increases:

      (1) For any transcript prepared and delivered on the same day, $4.00 per page through December 31, 1997, $4.25 per page through December 31, 1998, $4.50 per page through December 31, 1999 and $4.75 per page thereafter and $0.50 per copy of each page;

      (2) For any transcript prepared overnight, $3.00 per page through December 31, 1997, $3.25 per page through December 31, 1998, $3.50 per page through December 31, 1999 and $3.75 per page thereafter and $0.50 per copy of each page;

      (3) For any transcript prepared within two to seven days from the date of request, $2.25 per page through December 31, 1997 , $2.50 per page through December 31, 1998, $2.75 per page through December 31, 1999 and $3.00 per page thereafter and $0.50 per copy of each page; and

      (4) For any other transcript, $1.50 per page through December 31, 1997 , $1.75 per page through December 31, 1998, $2.00 per page through December 31, 1999 and $2.25 per page thereafter and $0.50 per copy of each page.

 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

      The committee amended the bill to provide a three year phase-in of the fee increases and to make the phase-in apply for all transcript requests; prior to amendment, the bill would have provided for a phase-in of the fee increase only for transcripts prepared for State agencies. In addition, the committee amended the bill to retain the present fee of $1.50 per page ($0.50 per copy of each page) for transcripts prepared for the use of persons who are deaf or hearing impaired.

 

FISCAL IMPACT

      Information on the fiscal impact of this bill was not available as of the date of this statement. For previous versions of this bill, the Office of the Public Defender, the Administrative Office of the Courts, and the Department of Law and Public Safety had provided information to the Office of Legislative Services on the increase in annual costs these offices would incur as a result of the enactment of this bill; however, this information now needs to be recalculated given the amendments adopted by this committee that reduce the amounts by which the fees will be increased.