In his attempts to solve a multi-billion-dollar state deficit, Governor Gavin Newsom's new budget plan would terminate a legislative experiment that increased pay for juries in an effort to make them more fairly represent the communities they serve.

Since September, jurors in seven counties have been eligible to receive $100 per day while serving on a jury, a significant improvement to the statewide norm of $15.

The Jury Duty Pilot Program originated from a law Newsom signed three years ago.

Killing it early would save about $27.5 million, according to Newsom's latest budget proposal.

Funded as a two-year program, the legislation required the Judicial Council, the agency that oversees all of California's courts, to study juror data and produce a report on how the increased per diem impacts overall jury diversity.

Now, after just eight months, several pilot program counties have moved to end the increased stipend after Newsom's revised budget proposal came out in May.

Assemblymember Alex Lee, the Milpitas Democrat who authored the original bill that established the program, said it was extremely disappointing to see the governor undo a law that passed through the legislature and which he'd previously signed.

Alameda County Chief Public Defender Brendan Woods said, "When you think about the cost of this program- about $27.5 million, and the cost that, as a state we pay nearly $14 billion to incarcerate people in prison- it's kind of ridiculous that this small amount was being cut to make sure that our juries are more diverse."

Woods spoke not only about the impact of losing the Jury Duty Pilot Program but also what that means in light of voters passing Proposition 36, which signaled a swing away from criminal justice reform and a return to more tough-on-crime, mass incarceration era policies.

For CalMatters, I'm Joe Garcia.