When Congress returns from its recess, it will address the issue of approving a final budget for fiscal year 2011. One small, but critically important, item in that budget is the funding level for the Legal Services Corp. On Feb. 19, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $70 million budget cut for LSC, reducing grants to its 136 local legal aid programs by an average of 18%.
The impact of these cuts on programs that are already inadequately funded — and that have seen deep losses in other sources of revenue including Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, foundation grants and state and local contributions — would be devastating. LSC reports that more than 160,000 fewer low-income people would receive civil legal assistance, 370 legal services staff attorneys would be laid off, and offices in rural and outlying areas would have to be closed. This at a time when the number of Americans living in poverty is at an all-time high, and when their legal problems have become more frequent, more complex and more pressing.
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