Wednesday, August 4, 1999

DOOLEY SUPPORTS RESTORATION OF LEGAL SERVICES FUNDING

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressmen Cal Dooley (CA20-Hanford) voted today to provide $250 million next year for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), turning back a measure to cut legal aid funding for low income residents in half.

The vote came during debate on the FY 2000 Appropriations Bill for the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State. The bill originally included $141 million for the LSC, a decrease of $159 million from the current funding level. Dooley supported, and the House passed by a vote of 242-178, an amendment offered by Reps. Jose Serrano (D-NY) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN) that increases funding for the LSC to $250 million for FY 2000.

Dooley spoke in favor of the amendment on the House floor, saying, "I represent many people who are poor, and therefore do not have adequate access to our judicial system. Their only option is the legal assistance that they receive from the Legal Services Corporation." Dooley added, "If a low-income elderly person is unfairly evicted from her apartment, or if a young mother is unable to collect child support and must go to the court to intervene, what are they to do if they cannot afford legal representation?"

Dooley also remarked, "I find it somewhat ironic that the same week that this Congress will be considering a huge tax cut of over $700 billion, some of my colleagues think it's important to cut funding for one of the most important programs that assist the poorest of our citizens." Tomorrow, the House is scheduled to consider a ten-year, $792 billion tax cut plan that Dooley has criticized as a "reckless step backward in our struggle to put the nation's fiscal house back in order."

The Legal Services Corporation has recently undergone structural reforms to increase its efficiency and accountability. The local boards that administer legal services programs, which are comprised of representatives from the legal and business communities, have directed legal services programs to focus on core services and reduce program overhead.

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