Lost in All the Wisconsin Uproar…State to Cut All Funding for Civil Legal Services(?) (Updated)
Wisconsin state politics have become national news of late. But here’s a bit of particularly bad news for the legal services community that hasn’t made it to the fore of news coverage…
The Wisconsin Law Journal reported last Friday that:
Civil legal service providers for poor people in Wisconsin are facing substantial cuts pending the inclusion of a budget proposal that eliminates all state money for those organizations.
Part of Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011-13 budget reallocates money collected by the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation and distributed to organizations such as Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee and Legal Action of Wisconsin to other aspects of the criminal justice system
…
Walker’s proposal would shift money allotted to civil legal service providers to support pay increases for assistant district attorneys and also for additional court reporters in the state.
The executive director of Legal Action noted in the piece that the cut could cause his organization to lay off over 40% of its staff. The PSLawNet Blog is all for raising prosecutors’ salaries, but not – repeat, not – at the expense of cutting off legal services funding at a time of acute need.
UPDATE: here’s reaction to Governor Walker’s budget proposal from the Wisconsin State Bar. It offers some context for the funding changes which would affect public service lawyers, and notes that the budget contemplates adding 45 public defender positions statewide – a healthy development.
