Remember That Legal Aid Defender Card You Filled Out? They Really Helped!
In September, the House of Representatives completed consideration of the Legal Services Corporation portion of the catch-all federal spending bill - without considering any amendments to cut LSC funding. This is great news, since over the past 12 years the House filed a number of amendments and has taken eight votes to cut or eliminate LSC funding.
The House also considered a bipartisan amendment to increase LSC funding by $10 million. Although this amendment was withdrawn before a vote, Chairman John Culberson (R-TX), who heads the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee with jurisdiction over LSC funding, expressed "support for the work the Legal Services Corporation does" and pledged to seek additional funding when finalizing the bill with the Senate.
The ABA played an important role in this milestone, delivering over 20,000 Legal Aid Defender cards to Congress. After LSC supporters from the bench and bar contacted their representatives throughout the spring and summer, resistance to LSC funding markedly diminished.
Looking toward House-Senate negotiations over the final funding levels, the challenge will be to hold onto the Senate's preliminary funding level of $385 million (which would keep funding level from this year, versus the House's original proposed $300 million).
The fight to preserve funding for the Legal Services Corporation is far from over, but this is a significant step toward that goal. We will provide updates on the progress of legal services funding and let you know if the need to contact your members of Congress arises. Thank you for your commitment to defending legal aid!
ABA Advocacy
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Can NFL owners fire football players for refusing to stand during the National Anthem? How frequently has the Supreme Court weighed in on matters involving the Second Amendment, restricting the types of firearms one can own? Can a private company fire an employee who makes public a document critical of diversity efforts, or is the employee protected by free speech? The ABA recently launched Legal Fact Check to offer answers to these questions, often made relevant by current news events. Legal Fact Check uses cases, statutory law and other legal precedents to separate legal fact from fiction. Pose your own questions at www.abalegalfactcheck.com.