LSC hopes bipartisan support will overcome Trump’s defunding plan
LSC hopes bipartisan support will overcome Trump’s defunding plan
President Trump’s budget proposal calls for defunding the Legal Services Corporation, but LSC leaders expressed confidence that Congress would continue to support the mission of the nation’s single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income people.
“I look forward to working with Congress to continue LSC’s work,” said James Sandman, president of LSC. “I am optimistic that the bipartisan support we have enjoyed in Congress for more than four decades will continue for years to come.”
LSC was created in 1974 with broad bipartisan congressional sponsorship and was signed into law by President Nixon. Every year for 42 years, Congress has funded LSC. In each of the last three fiscal years, bipartisan majorities in Congress have increased LSC’s funding by $10 million per year.
ABA President Linda Klein said the ABA “staunchly supports a robust” LSC to assure access to justice for all.
“Our nation’s core values are reflected in the LSC’s work in securing housing for veterans, freeing seniors from scams, serving rural areas when others won’t, protecting battered women, helping disaster survivors back to their feet, and many others,” she said.
