WASHINGTON, April 5, 2019 — American Bar Association President Bob Carlson sent written testimony to Congress Thursday supporting the Legal Services Corporation’s request for $593 million in federal funding for Fiscal Year 2020.
In testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, Carlson wrote that this funding “would put the LSC on a better trajectory to achieve the pledge of justice for all.” Federal funds to LSC support civil legal aid offices serving every congressional district in the country. These offices help low-income Americans – including seniors, veterans, rural residents, domestic violence survivors, natural disaster victims and opioid victims – gain access the nation’s legal system to solve everyday problems.
LSC funding is down 43 percent since the 1980s. Current federal funding is $415 million a year. “As the economy recovers,” Carlson wrote, “LSC funding should also recover.”
Read the full text of Carlson’s testimony here.
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