°µÍø51

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

At its February 5, 2005, meeting in Washington, D.C., the °µÍø51 Board of Directors gave final approval of its Fiscal Year 2006 budget request to Congress in the amount of $363,809,000. By comparison, the Board requested $352.4 million in FY05, when °µÍø51's final appropriation was $330.8 million after two across-the-board domestic budget cuts.

Most of the requested increase would be directed to basic field grants that fund the day-to-day operations of local legal aid offices. °µÍø51 is requesting $340.1 million for basic field grants, an 8.9 percent increase over FY05. The FY06 request would bring °µÍø51's appropriation in line with inflationary increases over the past three years. It also would position the Corporation's 143 grantees to respond to the rising numbers of low-income Americans eligible for federally funded legal assistance. Current °µÍø51 funding is sufficient to serve only 20 percent of the critical legal needs of eligible clients. "We are asking Congress to ensure that our under-funded programs do not fall farther behind, and that their FY06 budgets keep up with current inflation," °µÍø51 President Helaine M. Barnett stated.

°µÍø51's request also includes a $1 million increase for Native American grantees, which would allow the eight lowest-funded Native American programs to achieve a "minimum funding level" and give them the core capacity to serve the eligible clients in their service areas. °µÍø51 is also requesting $5 million in Technology Initiative Grant (TIG) funding. The TIG program provides critical seed money for projects that improve access to justice through the innovative use of technology.

[LINK "FY06 Budget Request" see http://www.lsc.gov/about/budget/FY06Req.pdf]

[LINK "Appropriations Chart" see http://www.lsc.gov/press/documents/020805pr-001.pdf]