National Law Journal on Proposed LSC Funding Cuts
By Jamie Bence
The National Law Journal reports today on the House of Representatives’ proposed 26% cut to Legal Services Corporation funding, following a 4% reduction in April. As we had previously reported, LSC definitely seems to be on the discretionary-spending chopping block in the House:
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the LSC, describes himself as a supporter of its work. At a July 13 hearing, Wolf didn’t directly address the LSC, instead speaking generally about the need to reduce the federal budget deficit. “In this austere budget climate, we have had to make some tough choices in order to preserve at a freeze level the funding for core federal law enforcement functions,” Wolf said.
Still, the proposed 26% cut to LSC is much deeper than the 6% cut to all programs that fall within Wolf’s subcommittee. Those programs include such popular initiatives as the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Commerce Department trade promotion.
The impact of such cuts on the ground will likely be drastic. Providers have already seen cutbacks in staffing, resources and the types of services they are able to provide:
“How do you choose between, for example, somebody who’s being evicted and someone who’s the victim of domestic violence? And yet those are the kinds of choices we have,” said Melville “De” Miller Jr., president of Legal Services of New Jersey. “None of them are satisfactory. They all deny equal access to justice.”
Miller said his state had 720 legal services workers at the beginning of 2008, but the number has since dropped to 490 and will likely continue to fall. An array of other cuts are under consideration, he said: closing offices, restricting the types of cases handled and lowering the income ceiling to be eligible for services.
While this proposal would likely pass in the House, there are several other players yet to weigh in. While LSC requested $516.5 million, the Obama administration has requested the same appropriations made in 2010. The Senate appropriations will likely be higher than the House numbers, but in these early stages, it remains unclear how deep the cuts will run. One certainty is that access-to-justice advocates are going to be gearing up for a fight to ensure that LSC doesn’t suffer too large a cut.