ABA President Backs Obama's Budget Request for Legal Services Corp.
ABA President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III is endorsing President Obama’s $402 million budget request for the Legal Services Corp. in fiscal 2013.
The amount is $68 million less than the amount requested by the LSC, an agency that delivers civil legal help to low-income Americans, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. But it represents an increase over the current budget.
“The current LSC budget of $348 million is simply inadequate,” Robinson said in a statement issued Thursday. “We have an obligation to ensure a strong funding level for LSC so that our courts can function effectively and veterans, the elderly, disaster victims and families facing foreclosure have somewhere to turn for free legal advice.”
According to Robinson, “President Obama’s $402 million Legal Services Corporation budget request justly acknowledges our nation’s financial constraints while maintaining a lifeline to those in need of legal help.”
LSC funding cuts have spurred LSC-funded organizations to eliminate 833 positions since last year, according to The BLT, the Columbia Missourian and an LSC press release. The groups expect to lay off 393 employees, including 163 lawyers, in 2012.
