Congress has passed an omnibus appropriations bill for the current federal fiscal year that includes funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). Initial calculations are that Minnesota's five LSC-funded programs will receive an additional $400,000 in federal funding. Due to decades of cuts and flat funding, this appropriation, adjusted for inflation, is about half of the 1980 level. Here's a chart comparing current LSC funding to the 1980 appropriation in inflation-adjusted dollars.

This partial restoration of federal funds will not be enough to offset the impending decrease of $500,000 per year in IOLTA funding. It also will not benefit the approximately 25 legal aid programs that are not federally funded. Despite the LSC funding, between 3,000 and 4,500 disadvantaged families will lose needed access to critical legal services if state funding is cut as proposed in the Governor's supplemental budget.