Deposition Reporters Association – Assembly Bill 1461 aka Fairness
I am the DRA Rep for San Diego and Imperial Counties. What does that mean? I have responsibility for getting critical information to my members. Being a member of DRA has a myriad of advantages including receiving newsletters that go to the heart of what we do as professionals, describing the latest news, resources, and political action.
The big issue of the moment is our assembly bill that we need to get passed. Please help us in any way you can get this through. Our bill is about fairness. If I, Rosalie Kramm, commit acts that go against the CCP, I jeopardize my CSR license and can get fined. If a firm that is owned by someone who is not a CSR commits the same act, no CR Board has no jurisdiction over that firm to make them stop. Anyone on the side of fairness would argue for this bill.
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AB 1461,
authored by Assembly Member Ira Ruskin and cosponsored by DRA and CCRA, is an attempt to close an existing loophole that allows some court reporting entities to circumvent regulations imposed on all California Certified Shorthand Reporters and most California deposition reporting firms, particularly regarding the issue of gift-giving.
On April 21, 2009 this matter was heard in and passed out of the Assembly Business & Profession Committee by a 7 to 3 vote.
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Proponents of the bill:
DRA
CCRA
COCRA
Consumer Attorneys of California
Consumer Federation of California
Court Reporters Board of California
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (Local 21)
Service Employees International Union
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Opponents of the bill:
Thomson Reuters
California Deposition Agency Owners & Reporters Association (Veritext, Barkley Court Reporters, Esquire/Paulson Court Reporters, Sarnoff Court Reporters, Golden Gate Court Reporters, US Legal, Merrill Corporation)
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DRA and CCRA were very well represented by our respective lobbyists, Ed Howard and Jim Cassie, and we thank them for their efforts.
We will keep you advised as to the status of this very important bill and may be asking for your support when this matter comes up for future hearings.
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John Squires, President
Deposition Reporters Association
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Have Your Banker Be your Ally
Today I was visited by my very favorite banker in the world Chris Burr of Security Business Bank (www.securitybusinessbank.com) and his cash management specialist Lisa McIntire. Anytime I get to have a face-to-face meeting with Chris, I am thrilled. He is smart and cares about his clients. The first thing Chris ever said to me when I met him five years ago was, “Banks are in the business of making money.” That might seem like an obvious statement, but it is a fair one. As a client I was put on notice that Chris was a vendor like any other vendor.
I used to put banks (bankers) on a lofty pedestal believing they were heavily regulated and that every bank was the same, basically the same interest rates, fees, programs, blah, blah, blah.
I found Chris through a referral. I needed a construction loan to do some major remodeling of my building. I had been banking at BofA. At BofA everyone seemed to be really young and “new” to the banking world. I get the sense that the big banks constantly hire young people and let the seasoned people go because it is cheaper on their payroll. I wanted a banker that I could talk to and trust and who would be around longer than six months so we could have history.
Since meeting Chris, he has not only helped me with my construction loan, but he has spent hours helping me strategize for the future in regarding big purchase items. I run a court reporting business, and I know court reporting in and out. Chris knows banking. Today Chris and Lisa gave me a presentation on electronic deposits, a system that allows us to deposit all checks without ever going to the bank. Using electronic deposits allows us to create custom searchable fields and generate reports of how much, from whom, and when money has come in.
I have asked Chris to keep me apprised of all new services and features that are offered to clients, even those services may not seem applicable to my company. I believe having your banker as your ally is a “best business practice.” I sleep better at night knowing Chris Burr is on my team.
rosalie@kramm.com
