by Eric Kleiman

Decisive Support
Chairman Wolf replaces controversies of the past with vital resources for the future

To those who followed the harried final days of Congress’ FY03 appropriations process this February, it may have seemed like the additional $9.5 million for LSC (page 61) was a bit like last-minute pennies from heaven. How did legal aid secure a funding increase when so many domestic programs were being significantly cut on the eve of a war?

The genesis of the political support that made the increase possible can be traced back to 2001, when President Bush took office and Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) took the reins of the House Appropriations subcommittee with funding jurisdiction over LSC.

Since 1995, the annual debate over LSC’s funding had been contentious. A few Members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary had sought to zero out or dramatically reduce funding for the organization and its grantees. Year after year, LSC’s funding was sliced roughly in half to $141 million in committee, only to be restored when taken up by the full House of Representatives.

However, President Bush—first as a candidate, then upon taking office—publicly embraced the federal government’s responsibility to help ensure that “poor families are not treated unfairly and illegally by landlords, creditors, and others merely because they cannot afford adequate legal representation.”

Chairman Wolf publicly endorsed the President’s outlook. Then, on June 27, 2001, something remarkable happened: Level funding ($329.3 million) was green-lighted in committee for LSC for the first time in six years. Weeks later, there was no opposition on the House floor either, and level funding was approved. It was as if years of controversy and contentiousness surrounding federally funded legal aid suddenly melted away in the capital.

Today, Wolf says, “LSC provides an important service—help[ing] those who cannot afford a lawyer. I have supported LSC through the years and will continue to in the future.”

This February, his support came at the most crucial time in legal aid’s recent past. The final stage of the frantic February funding debate required conferees from the Senate and the House to decide whether or not to include all or part of a $19 million LSC amendment authored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) in the ultimate spending bill to be sent to the President for his signature.

Rep. Wolf was a key backer on the conference committee that determined LSC’s final FY03 budget. When asked to weigh legal services’ resource crisis against competing priorities such as homeland security, drought relief, and AIDS assistance for Africa, Wolf found the money. 

“Congressman Wolf has not only successfully taken the sting out of the annual LSC appropriations battle, he even ushered in this year with a slight increase,” notes Julie Clark, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association’s top lobbyist. “We in the legal services community are thankful for his support and his vigilance.”