House-Senate Agreement Cuts LSC Funding

Washington, DC—A congressional agreement for Fiscal Year 2012 funding would provide $348 million to the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). Of that, $322.4 million would fund basic field grants for the delivery of civil legal assistance to low-income Americans.

LSC is currently funded at $398.1 million under an interim FY 2012 bill that expires on November 18.  LSC currently provides $372.9 million in grants to 136 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories.

The House-Senate conference agreement would cut LSC’s overall funding by 13.9 percent and funding for basic field grants by 14.8 percent.  The agreement is scheduled to be taken up for a vote on the House floor this week.

The House had proposed $300 million in LSC funding for FY 2012, and the Senate had recommended $396.1 million.

Funding for LSC rose to $420 million in FY 2010 and dropped to $404.2 million in FY 2011. The last time LSC was funded at $348 million was in 2007.

Established by Congress in 1974, LSC is the single largest funder of civil legal assistance in the nation. The Corporation’s mission is to provide equal access to justice and to ensure the delivery of high-quality civil legal aid to low-income Americans. LSC grants help address the civil legal needs of the elderly, victims of domestic violence, veterans seeking benefits to which they are entitled, disabled individuals, tenants facing unlawful evictions, and other civil matters.