Campaign Seeks State Funding Increase for Legal Aid Programs

Led by cochairs James R. Thompson and Philip J. Rock, the Equal Justice Illinois Campaign is calling on the General Assembly to increase the appropriation for the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation to $2 million from the current level of $472,000. The Illinois Equal Justice Foundation distributes the state’s annual funding for civil legal aid, which comes through a line item in the Department of Human Services’ budget. For 2005, the foundation awarded grants across the state to 12 legal aid programs, including the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, Prairie State Legal Services, and Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation . Gov. Rod Blagojevich did not include any funding for the Equal Justice Foundation in his proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1, 2005 .

Currently Illinois ranks last among the 10 most populous states in terms of annual civil legal aid appropriations; Illinois spends just $472,000 compared to those states’ average of $6.8 million. Civil legal aid programs desperately need increases in state funding due to cuts in federal funds. Federal funding from the Legal Services Corporation, which is the largest source of support for legal aid, dropped by 38 percent over the past 15 years when adjusted for inflation.

In calling for increased state funding, the Equal Justice Campaign cites the following facts:

• Legal aid is a critical social service that helps prevent problems such as domestic violence, predatory lending, foreclosure, and child support difficulties from spiraling into crises.
• According to a major new study, The Legal Aid Safety Net: A Report on the Legal Needs of Low-Income Illinoisans, low-income residents in Illinois are able to get legal help for only one out of every six problems they face.
• Only the equivalent of 280 full-time legal aid lawyers are in the entire state—a ratio of one legal aid lawyer for every 4,752 problems faced by the poor.
• An appropriation of $2 million from the state could give meaningful access to the justice system to well over 30,000 additional low-income Illinoisans.

The campaign is asking Illinois residents to urge their local legislators to support increasing the appropriation for the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation to $2 million. Log onto www.elections.state.il.us for contact information on your local legislators.

For more information, call Leslie Corbett at 312.499.4752 or visit www.equaljusticeillinois.org.