NLADA Legal Aid News

In this issue:

Senate Appropriations Committee Provides $400 Million for Legal Services Corporation
for FY 2010; Removes Restrictions on Non-LSC Funds.

This afternoon, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed a bill marked up yesterday by the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS)
 that funds the Legal Services Corporation at a level of $400 million for FY 2010. The bill also removes, with two exceptions, the rider attached to LSC funding for over a decade that applies all federal restrictions to state, local
and private funds held by LSC grantees. The two restrictions that were continued in the Senate bill on non-LSC funds relate to abortion and prisoner representation.
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The Senate funding level of $400 is $40 million less than that provided by the House of Representatives in its bill passed earlier this month. The House bill did not remove the restriction on non-LSC funds, but did remove the restriction banning LSC recipients from
seeking attorneys' fees. The Senate bill did not remove the attorneys' fees restriction, but such fees could be sought in cases brought using non-LSC sources of funding if the Senate version is enacted into law.

NLADA has worked tirelessly with its many allies both to maximize funding, particularly given the impact of the economic turndown on legal aid providers, and also to remove the onerous restrictions placed on each  appropriations bill since 1996. The removal of the non-LSC funding restriction has long been our top priority. While we are disappointed at the level of funding provided in the Senate bill, we are extremely grateful that the Senate, under the leadership of Senator Barbara
Mikulski (D-MD), saw fit to remove the restriction for FY 2010.

After floor action, the Senate bill will progress to a conference with the House. We will continue to
work equally hard toward increasing the final amount of funding and maintaining the Senate's approach to removing the restriction on non-LSC funds. The Senate significantly increased
funding from the House bill for both NASA and the 2010 decennial census, programs that matter deeply to Senator Mikulski and Ranking Member Richard Shelby (R-AL). Obviously those increases put pressure on other programs within the CJS appropriation. President Obama has sought $435 million for LSC in FY 2010.

Every effort will be made to communicate with key members of Congress regarding the extraordinary economic pressures facing providers in urging them to maximize funding in conference. We remain confident that a significant amount of the $40 million difference can be restored.
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