The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $40 million-budget increase for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC)in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill on February 25.
The funding level is $390 million, a $40 million or 11.4 percent increase over the FY 2008 funding level of $350 million. The Senate is expected to take up the bill next week.
-RFW
Last Friday, 12/12/08, the Austin American Statesman published an Op-Ed by Helaine M. Barnett, the President of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). In the Op-Ed, Ms. Barnett eloquently describes the gap in legal justice for those able to pay for legal representation and those unable to pay for it. Here are some excerpts:
The people who come to LSC-funded programs for help are the most vulnerable among us.
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Census Bureau data show that nearly 51 million Americans have an income of less than 125 percent of the federal poverty guideline (for a family of four, $26,500 a year) and therefore are eligible for civil legal aid from LSC-funded programs.
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Those programs lack the funding and staff to provide civil legal assistance to all who seek help.
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Across the nation, the outlook is not encouraging. Recessions disproportionately affect the poor, causing a loss of jobs, health care and housing.
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Ensuring that the poor are adequately represented in the civil judicial system greatly improves their chances of keeping or securing basic necessities — the keys to stability and self-sufficiency.
Please take a moment to read through Ms. Barnett’s Op-Ed or watch her presentation to the Texas Supreme Court at the December 10, 2008 public hearing on civil legal justice.
-RFW
