Senate Ups Ante on LSC Budget By $42M
A U.S. Senate vote this week to increase the budget of an agency that provides legal services to the indigent by nearly $42 million was applauded today by the president of the ABA.
“Every American should have access to the legal system, not just those who can afford it. The Senate’s decision to restore $42 million to the Legal Service Corporation’s funding is a major victory for millions of low-income citizens, who need legal assistance to safeguard their health, housing and other basic necessities,” says ABA President William H. Neukom, in a press release today.
The Senate voted Monday to approve the Fiscal Year 2008 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies funding bill, which provides for a $41.4 million (or 12 percent) budget increase for the LSC, reports PR Newswire in a press release. Total funding for LSC, which is the nation’s biggest source of money to pay for civil legal aid for low-income individuals, would be $390 million next year under the bill.
The LSC funding plan isn’t yet a done deal, however. The House approved an 8 percent increase in LSC’s budget in June, PR Newswire notes. That means the two versions must still be accorded in some manner.
Although the Senate funding increase is a step in the right direction, it still leaves something to be desired, says CJS Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md.
“In 1996 came a horrendous and Draconian cut,” she points out. “If we had kept funding at the 1980 levels, just with inflation, Legal Services would be funded at $757 million.” The actual amount received by LSC from Congress in 1995 was $400 million, its highest-ever funding, PR Newswire says.
