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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Thomas Caltagirone |
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Governor signs Caltagirone court fee bill into law
HARRISBURG, July 27 – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Thomas Caltagirone's legislation (H.B. 38) to bring Pennsylvania's district and municipal courts' filing fees in compliance with a new law enacted last year is now law.
The governor signed Caltagirone's bill at a reception today in Harrisburg.
Caltagirone explained that Act 114 of 2010 increased the civil jurisdiction among the state’s district and municipal courts. The bill signed by the governor today enacts the second half of the changes to the courts' fee charts.
"This measure completes changes to the district and municipal court’s civil jurisdictional limits, so that cases that have been making their way into the Courts of Common Pleas because of inflation are redirected back to where they were traditionally heard – before magisterial district judges," Caltagirone, D-Berks, said. "I appreciate all the bipartisan effort in both the House and Senate that went into passing this important piece of legislation and thank the governor for his support. This bill is a positive change that helps our courts system remain as efficient and effective as possible."
Earlier this year, the Senate amended the bill to extend the November expiration of a revenue stream used to help fund the court system. Caltagirone worked with the Senate to reach an agreement on an extension that would also be supported in the House.
"When the legislature originally enacted the funding stream, we were hopeful that the economy would have recovered by now, and that it would no longer be necessary," Caltagirone explained. "Unfortunately the economy hasn’t quite regained its strength and the court system needs this funding for a few more months while the economy recovers. We all understood that an extension was necessary to keeping courts open for business to enforce our laws."
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