Legal Services Corporation ("LSC") will receive almost $330 million, a significant increase of just under $25 million from last year’s allocation. This amount is close to $30 million above the original Senate mark and an almost $55 million increase from the House of Representatives’s original figure. The final Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary bill (H.R. 4942), the measure that funds LSC, appropriated nearly $40 billion, including $2.1 billion for the Justice Department, $6.6 billion for the State Department, and $4.3 billion for the federal judiciary.

"This increase by Congress will restore the confidence of the American people in the principle of ‘Equal Justice Under Law.’ I am encouraged to know that the federal government has reaffirmed its commitment to providing critical legal services to low-income individuals," said LSC President John Mckay. "This increase will allow us to serve more of America’s low-income persons, millions of whom are denied equal access to justice every year."

The enacted budget deal ensures significant surpluses for the fourth consecutive year and record spending increases for various Republican and Democratic initiatives. Overall spending for government departments and agencies will total a record $634 billion, an amount exceeding the President’s request by $10 billion.