A congressional agreement for Fiscal Year 2012 funding would provide $348 million to the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). Established by Congress in 1974, LSC is the single largest funder of civil legal assistance in the nation.
Of that, $322.4 million would fund basic field grants for the delivery of civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. The impact of this agreement would reduce LSC’s funding by 13.9 percent, basically reducing LSC’s funding to 2007 levels. The House is scheduled to take up the Agreement on the Floor next week. The impact of this cut in the funding is to reduce access to the legal system for low income individuals and families severely. At a time of economic distress, legal needs are increasing, not contracting. Can we have a just society, when so many individuals are excluded from access to the legal system? Can we be a democratic society with so many individuals excluded from our court system?
Write to your Congressman today and support LSC funding.