ABA president advocates a $450M budget for LSC in letter to Senate
ABA President Linda Klein submitted a statement to the U.S. Senate on Friday urging them to set the Legal Services Corp. budget to $450 million for 2018.
Klein’s statement is largely similar to her testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives in early May. It echoes the lobbying which the ABA has been doing on the LSC’s behalf since President Donald Trump’s proposed budget was announced, one which would eliminate all LSC funding. The LSC is the largest provider of civil legal aid in the nation.
“Funding for equal justice under federal law cannot be shouldered by state and local governments as an unfunded mandate,” Klein wrote in her statement (PDF). “The federal government should contribute its fair share. That can only be accomplished through funding the Legal Services Corporation.”
Lawmakers struck a budget deal at the end of April which includes funding for the LSC at the current level of $385 million through the end of the fiscal year in September. But there has not yet been an agreement on what level of funding—if any—will be appropriated for the LSC in Fiscal Year 2018.
Related articles:
ABAJournal.com: “State high court justices ask their senators to preserve funding for the Legal Services Corp.”
ABAJournal.com: “ABA President Klein reaffirms commitment to endangered LSC”
