Calif. Gov. Vetoes Bill to Let State Bar Collect Lawyer Dues, Cites Lax Oversight
The State Bar of California still has enough money to operate through 2009.
But apparently seeking to send a message about what he describes as the group’s “inefficiencies,” “political agenda” and a lack of oversight that allegedly allowed a former employee to embezzle $675,000, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a state senate bill. It would have given the bar the power to continue to collect dues from California’s approximately 164,000 attorneys through 2010, according to the Metropolitan News-Enterprise.
He apparently intends to give the state bar the power to collect dues once again, after concerns such as rising costs and reduced disciplinary actions are addressed, the newspaper recounts.
In a written dressing-down to the bar on Sunday, the governor said the organization should be above reproach, but isn’t, reports the Press-Enterprise.
“The governor’s veto of the state bar dues bill is regrettable, but we must take the governor’s concerns seriously. Many of them are justified. There have been serious management and financial issues at the state bar,” says president Howard Miller in a responding statement yesterday.
