The next victims of the state's one point six billion dollar budget shortfall are crucial to most court cases. The budget for court reporters is quickly running out in many judicial circuits throughout the state. News Watch spoke with Pete Shanks, a court reporter for Coles county, who says the Fifth Judicial Circuit already has an emergency operations plan ready to go. The plan that would fix the budget shortfall through the end of this fiscal year on June 30th was passed in the House yesterday, and continues through to the Senate tomorrow with a possible vote this week. Both Shanks and Shick are hopeful the plan will be passed, preventing the use of their district's emergency plan. But, budget issues will likely need re-addressed at the start of the next fiscal year.
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