On Friday, November 19, the United States Senate approved an omnibus appropriations bill that included all remaining appropriations for FY 2000, including $305 million for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). The day before, the House passed the same bill, which resulted from intensive negotiations between House and Senate leaders and the White House. President Clinton is expected to sign the measure soon.
The $305 million figure represents a $5 million increase in funding for LSC over the FY 1999 level. Earlier this fall, Congress had voted to maintain funding at the 1999 level as part of its Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill, but Clinton vetoed that bill on October 25. In his statements concerning the veto, Clinton specifically cited his desire for increased legal services funding as part of the reason for the veto. Although LSC funding was increased in the final bill, the increase was far less than the $40 million increase that Clinton had asked for in his budget proposal.
Based on the record of scandal amassed by LSC in the last year, there had been hope early in this year’s session that LSC funding would be substantially decreased. Notably, LSC was caught representing grossly inflated figures to Congress of the number of cases handled by federally funded legal services programs. However, 43 House Republicans joined Democrats to restore most of the current funding level in the initial House appropriations bill passed in August, and the House-Senate Conference Report in October increased that level to the same $300 million that LSC received in FY 1999.
At least one news organization appears to have reported the FY 2000 LSC funding level as $310 million. But the legislation passed by the House and Senate states a $305 million appropriation for LSC, and breaks down the funding for several purposes: $289 million in grants to local legal services programs, $2.1 million for the LSC Inspector General’s office, $8.9 million for management and administration, and $5 million for information technology and “client self-help.”
LSAP Recent Developments Index