The Massachusetts House of Representatives on Wednesday evening passed a budget that does not include the modest annual increase in the hourly rate for private attorneys who accept court-appointed criminal cases, called Bar Advocates, called for by a blue-ribbon commission. See coverage of budget debate here.
In 2005, the legislature, under tremendous pressure from the Bar and specifically those Bar Advocates who refused to take cases for periods of time, appointed a commission to study and report on the state of the provision of counsel to indigent persons in Massachsetts. Here is their report. Lobbying continues for amendment of the House bill, and for compromise on a bi-cameral solution.
