Welcome to the website of the Atlanta Dispute Resolution Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. Visit us often for information regarding issues and events of interest to mediators, arbitrators and other professionals practicing in the area of Alternative Dispute Resolution.
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Urgent Alert - Georgia Senate Attempting To Eliminate Funding for GODR . . .
The following is an urgent message and call to action from Shinji Morokuma, Director of the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution, to all Registered Neutrals:
Dear Registered Neutral,
GODR's state budget has been eliminated by the Georgia Senate! Once again, I ask you to raise your voices to save state funding for our office.
GODR's FY2010 funding has been cut to ZERO by the Senate Appropriations Committee, on recommendation of its Judiciary Subcommittee. That eliminates $196,638 in state funds with which we started FY2009. Even after our share of mandatory cuts, GODR was hoping for about $146,000 in FY2010. (The House Appropriations Committee cut our FY2010 funding to $131,281.)
What the Senate’s funding cut means to you in real terms is that starting July 1, 2009, our office can count on offering you services for only about 5-6 months, operating solely on accumulated registration fees. After that, the office will be running "hand to mouth"; fees collected one month will determine if we can be open for you the next.
We ask you to contact key members of the House and Senate today and Thursday, before Friday's budget deadline. The contact information is below. Please tell them that you expect the state to continue to support GODR and the state ADR system, which has settled more than 137,000 cases since 1993. Please tell them that the small investment in GODR saves taxpayers at least $6.4 million a year they would otherwise have to pay for 17 more full-time judges to handle the 20,000 cases settled in FY2008. Please tell them we are careful stewards of taxpayer funds and a wise investment in maintaining an efficient judiciary.
By cutting state funding for GODR, both the House and Senate have demanded that GODR “become self-sufficient” – that is, that we be funded entirely by you, our registered neutrals. We believe that is not possible, given current mediator compensation rates. As you well know, in response to legislative pressure, the Commission on Dispute Resolution has increased registration and renewal fees to $125 for all applicants. That increase will raise our annual fee income to about $120,000. That is less than half the approximately $300,000 it costs to operate our small statewide office and provide needed services to you. We believe state taxpayers must share the responsibility for funding the ADR system that benefits them so much.
To invest $200,000 to save $6.4 million seems like an easy decision to us. Please let your legislators know that you feel the same way.
I thank you for your support and your service to the courts,
Shinji Morokuma, Director
Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution
244 Washington St. SW
Suite 300
Atlanta, GA 30334
404-463-3788
gaodr@godr.org
www.godr.org
House and Senate Conference Committee Members:
Representative Ben Harbin, ben.harbin@house.ga.gov, 404-463-2247, Fax: 404-463-2249, 245 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334
Representative Mark Burkhalter, mark.burkhalter@house.ga.gov, 404-656-5072, Fax: 404-657-0498, 340 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334
Representative Jerry Keen, jerry.keen@house.ga.gov, 404-656-5052, Fax: 404-656-5902, 338 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334
Senator Jack Hill, jack.hill@senate.ga.gov, 404-656-5038, Fax: 404-657-7094, 234 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334
Senator Tommie Williams, tommie.williams@senate.ga.gov, 404-656-0089, Fax: 404-463-5220, 321 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334
Senator Chip Rogers, chiprogers21@comcast.net, 404-463-1378, Fax: 404-657-9887, 236 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334
Other Key Legislators
House Appropriations Public Safety Subcommittee Chairman, Representative Chuck Martin, chuck.martin@house.ga.gov, 404-463-2247, Fax: 404-463-2249, 245 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334
Senate Appropriations Judiciary Subcommittee Chairman, Senator Preston Smith, preston.smith@senate.ga.gov, 404-656-0034, Fax: 404-463-4161, 301 - A Coverdell Legislative Office
Speaker Glenn Richardson, glenn.richardson@house.ga.gov, 404-656-5020, Fax: 404-656-5644, 332 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334
Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, casey.cagle@ltgov.ga.gov, 404-656-5030, Fax: 404-656-6739, 240 State Capitol, Atlanta 30334
To find your own state representative and state senator, go to www.legis.state.ga.us/
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