by Eric Kleiman


Harkin’s Heroics
Iowa Senator’s amendment leads to $9.5 million increase

Anyone looking for proof that talk of the new bipartisanship surrounding federally funded legal aid is more than a wink and a nod from Congress got it this February when both parties agreed on the first funding increase for Legal Services Corporation in three years.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), whose state was slated to lose more than a half-million dollars in civil justice funding for the poor, authored a “life preserver” amendment that ultimately reaped a $9.5-million increase for America’s legal services programs. 

The funding (bringing LSC’s total FY03 appropriation to $338.8 million) will help bail out dozens of local legal services programs mulling staff layoffs and office closures as a result of funding reallocations LSC is required to make every 10 years based on new census data.

“Legal services was already struggling to meet even 20 percent of the needs of the poor. A cut to that would have only made that challenge all the more difficult,” Harkin says. “Unfortunately, we were only able to secure an additional $9.5 million for LSC in the end, which will at least take some of the bite out of these cuts.”

Indeed, it was Harkin who proposed legislation in January calling for a $19 million LSC increase. As Senate and House leaders prepared for final deliberations on the FY03 omnibus spending bill that funds domestic government programs, Harkin’s “do-no-harm” measure would have meant that all programs losing LSC dollars would have had their funding held at current levels. 

That was a tall order, however, given that war-time budget pressures in Washington meant most domestic programs were getting squeezed by homeland defense and anti-terrorism priorities. Legal aid was facing a true calamity, Harkin told his colleagues, and he took it upon himself to make sure everyone on Capitol Hill was aware.

The LSC workforce of 3,389 lawyers, Harkin explained, was already struggling to serve the legal needs of more than 43 million eligible low-income Americans. And because of shifts in state poverty populations revealed by the 2000 U.S. Census, 26 states were slated to lose legal aid funding in 2003. Already-overburdened state infrastructures were in danger of collapsing. This was especially so in the states hit hardest by the census figures: Michigan (losing $1.99 million), Ohio ($1.93 million), Louisiana ($1.43 million), Mississippi ($997,448), Illinois ($929,029), Kentucky ($836,003), and Wisconsin ($721,504).

Harkin’s passionate statement in the Senate chamber had an impact on his colleagues. “A right without a remedy is no right at all, and without counsel, the poor are often powerless against the injustices they suffer,” Harkin stated. 

Two Senate Republicans—both with a history of supporting equal justice—stepped forward to support Harkin’s $19-million amendment on the Senate floor, Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Gordon Smith (R-OR). The result was an uncontested voice vote to send the amendment to the House-Senate conference committee charged with hashing out the final FY03 budget details.

There, a bipartisan House coalition stepped forward to usher the funding through. Crucial support came from Congressman Frank Wolfe (R-VA), chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over LSC. 

In the face of competition from the FBI, the State Department, and Department of Homeland Security, House-Senate conferees still approved $9.5 million for LSC—half of Harkin’s amendment. Other crucial supporters in the House were Reps. Deborah Pryce (R-OH), Tom Latham (R-IA), David Obey (D-WI), Ralph Regula (R-OH), and José Serrano (D-NY).

A story in the Washington Post on Feb. 20 put it all into perspective. Judy Sarasohn, editor of The Federal Page (a must-read inside the Beltway), wrote of LSC’s FY03 increase: “In the big-money world of federal appropriations, sometimes relatively small amounts are nothing to sneeze at.” The headline of her article: A LITTLE EXTRA FUNDING MEANS A LOT. 

Harkin knew this all too well. According to the census, Iowa has 258,008 residents who qualify for free federally funded legal assistance. Harkin—a former legal aid lawyer himself—wasn’t about to sit back and watch as Iowa Legal Aid absorbed a funding cut of as much as 16 percent. Thousands of battered women, wrongfully evicted tenants, and seniors denied crucial benefits, he knew, would be victimized as a result.

“I know first-hand how important legal aid is to struggling Iowans who have no place else to turn in civil legal matters,” Harkin says. “For Iowa’s working poor, access to legal services can mean the difference between a job and unemployment or between living in a decent home and homelessness. And for increasing numbers of women and children, access to legal services has helped provide relief from a violent and abusive living situation.”

Fortunately, clients in Iowa and throughout America have Harkin advocating for them in the capital. Whew, now that’s a relief.