Senate Journal: Page 50: Wednesday, January 12, 2000

  people have contributed to this masterpiece.  Their vision, hard work, and
  commitment, reflected in this magnificent building, are a source of
  inspiration for us
  and for future generations.

  Like the Capitol, the Iowa Judicial Branch has benefited from the vision,
  hard
  work, and commitment of many people, past and present.  Visionaries from the
  past
  designed the timeless values upon which it is grounded.  Its structure and
  complex
  operating system have been developed over time to meet the needs of the
  people it
  serves.  And like the Capitol, the courts' most significant innovations have
  taken place
  in the past thirty years.  For example:

  Together, in the 1970s, we forged a number of changes that streamlined case
  processing, modernized court management, and eliminated a hodgepodge of
  obsolete
  judgeships.

  At our prompting in the 1980s, you provided for state funding of the court
  system,
  thereby lifting a heavy burden off the backs of property taxpayers, and
  equalizing local
  court resources around the state.

  With your backing in the 1980s and 1990s, we advanced information technology
  throughout the state's court system to add management and case-processing
  efficiencies, collect vital court information, and facilitate public access.

  And with your cooperation, we greatly enhanced the development of Iowa case
  law
  and the disposition of appeals by creating the Iowa Court of Appeals in
  1976, and more
  recently, restructuring the appellate courts.

  The end of the 20th century represented a culmination of innovation and
  reform for
  the Iowa Judicial Bran