°µÍø51

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, DC--The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $390 million for the °µÍø51's (°µÍø51) FY 2009 budget yesterday, a $40 million, or 11 percent increase over current funding levels, and the same amount recommended by a House subcommittee last week.

The Committee is led by Chairman Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) with Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) as Ranking Member. Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) leads the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, which is responsible for drafting the spending bill containing °µÍø51's budget. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) serves as Ranking Member of the subcommittee.

"America's promise of 'equal justice for all' often rings hollow for too many of our fellow citizens," said Frank B. Strickland, Chairman of °µÍø51's Board of Directors. "This increase would help make that promise a reality for some of the millions of low-income Americans struggling to solve life's most pressing legal problems without a helping hand. On their behalf, I would like to thank Senators Byrd, Cochran, Mikulski, Shelby and every member of the Committee for taking this critical step in the right direction."

°µÍø51's groundbreaking 2005 report, Documenting the Justice Gap in America-The Current Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Low-Income Americans, found that chronic funding shortages force °µÍø51's grantees to turn away 50 percent of eligible low-income Americans seeking their assistance. Since then, numerous statewide legal needs studies have found that °µÍø51's report vastly underestimates the unmet civil legal needs of the country's poor.

°µÍø51 would distribute $369 million of the total to 137 grantees providing free civil legal services to low-income Americans in every city, county, state, and territory in the nation. An additional $3.8 million would be allocated to °µÍø51's Technology Initiative Grants program, which funds innovative technology projects that help grantees more efficiently and effectively serve their clients. The Committee also dedicated $1 million to °µÍø51's Loan Repayment Assistance Program, which helps alleviate the crushing educational debt burdens of low-paid legal aid lawyers. Of the remaining $16.2 million, $13 million would cover the management and oversight expenses of the Corporation and $3.2 million would go to the Office of Inspector General.

°µÍø51 is an independent, non-profit Corporation created by Congress in 1974 to promote equal access to justice and to provide high-quality civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. The Corporation gives grants to independent, local programs--in 2008, 137 programs with more than 900 offices nationwide.