(1) Existing law establishes the Golden State Financial Marketplace Program or GS $Mart Program (program) . Existing law authorizes the Department of General Services to structure, administer, and maintain the program, the state's centralized financing program available for state agencies to finance certain goods and services, as described. Existing law makes state agencies, defined to include every state office, officer, department, division, bureau, board, and commission and the California State University and the Regents of the University of California, eligible to apply to the program in order to enter into agreements for financing those specified assets, including, but not limited to, energy efficiency measures, energy savings contracts, or technology goods or services, without further competitive bidding. Existing law also authorizes state agencies to refinance any eligible asset through the program for various purposes.
This bill would extend these provisions to also include a superior court, court of appeal, the Supreme Court, and the Judicial Council of California within the definition of state agency.
(2) Existing law authorizes the Judicial Council to sell specific courthouses at fair market value and upon the terms and conditions the Judicial Council deems in the best interests of the state.
This bill would authorize the Judicial Council to sell additional specified courthouses.
The bill would require, on or before April 1, 2027, the Judicial Council to identify and report to the Legislature and relevant policy committees any fees related to civil matters, including, but not limited to, fees to access trial court filings and records, authorized by the Judicial Council or a superior court but not specifically enumerated or authorized by statute. The bill would require the report to identify justification for all fees identified and justification for the fees being set at a specific amount. The bill would prohibit, commencing January 1, 2030, a superior court from charging a civil fee, regardless of whether the fee is identified in the report, that is not authorized by statute.
The bill would authorize the net proceeds from the sale of the specified courthouses to be utilized by the Judicial Council to offset any costs associated with the report described above.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Statutes affected:
06/10/24 - Amended Senate: 14938 GOV