Federal funding for civil legal aid in jeopardy, state solution sought | Arizona Capitol Times

Key Points: 

• Civil legal aid funding under threat in federal budget proposal 

• Arizona provides no financial support to civil legal services

• Legal community scrambling to secure funding

With federal budget cuts looming, the legal community, with the help of lawmakers, are pushing for the state to take up funding for organizations providing free legal services for low-income residents. 

Arizona has never accounted for civil legal services and instead leaves the three civil legal aid organizations reliant on the Legal Services Corporation, or LSC, a federal nonprofit established by Congress in 1974, to make up anywhere from 53% to 80% of their budgets. 

Threats to federal funding have come and passed before, but with a federal budget proposal to eliminate LSC entirely, civil legal aid organizations, the State Bar Foundation and the Arizona Supreme Court are sounding the alarm. 

“That’s something we have an obligation to invest in. This is an investment. It’s a commitment to saying we’re going to make sure that those laws are protecting you,” Chris Groninger, chief strategy officer for the Arizona Bar Foundation, said.  

Last year, LSC provided $11.2 million in funding to serve the general population, $4.9 million to serve Native Americans, and about a half million to serve agricultural workers in the state. 

According to LSC, the three legal aid organizations — Community Legal Services, Southern Arizona Legal Aid and DNA People’s Legal Services — assisted a total of 24,068 people, with family and housing taking the highest percent of closed cases. 

“The urgency of it is simply because we are the last resort for many people,” Sharon Sergent, executive director of Community legal Services, said. “We’re nowhere near closing the gap for access to justice, and legal aid is a key component in closing that gap.” 

On May 30, President Donald Trump unveiled a budget proposal that would reduce LSC’s budget from $560 million to $21 million to account for organizational costs.

Civil legal aid has braced for the possibility of a federal funding pull before as Trump unsuccessfully attempted to cut LSC funding during his first presidential stint. And since, the Arizona State Bar Foundation, civil legal service organizations and the Arizona Supreme Court continued to keep the threat on the radar.

When a concrete proposal hit, Chief Justice Ann Timmer called an “all hands on deck” meeting to convene civil legal service providers, lawmakers and members of the judiciary to discuss the next steps.

The court cannot lobby for funding, but Timmer said there were concerns about the impact on access to justice if such a cut were to pass, leading to the decision to bring interested parties to the table. 

“The pulling of the federal funding is probably not on the radar screen at the Legislature, because they never deal with legal aid. So it’s not something that would be uppermost in their mind,” Timmer said. 

“There’s always a competition for funding. So my thought was — we need to get on the radar screen of the people who can do something about it, and then they can make their policy decisions on funding and whatnot there.”

The meeting brought in members of the Senate and House Judiciary committees and has since garnered the interest of additional lawmakers. 

Sen. Annalise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, attended the meeting and said she has continued to keep civil legal aid on her shortlist of priorities since the start of session, with an earlier, albeit unheard, bill to slot $10 million for civil legal services.  

She renewed the call within the Democratic caucus. 

“We really are in crisis mode right now,” Ortiz said. “That has renewed the desire to have at least $10 million in funding.” Ortiz acknowledged the state’s “tough” financial situation but noted she had had some “promising” conversations with members across the aisle.

Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix, has also taken up the cause and said the plan is to continue educating members on civil legal services, with the hope of getting it on the radar of House and Senate leadership and the governor. 

“Everybody’s going to have constituents impacted,” Bolick said. 

Though Ortiz is pushing for $10 million, Bolick said the exact dollar amount is still up for discussion. Ultimately, however, she emphasized the importance of investing in legal access upfront to mitigate future costs to state social support programs. 

“It’s a very helpful resource that we have, and hopefully we can find a way to partially fund, fully fund, or even pitch to make sure that we have an ongoing appropriation in the future,” Bolick said. 

“We’re in the middle of settling for a budget this year, so I think there’s a few of us that will be encouraging our leadership, as well as the Governor’s Office, to make sure that this resource doesn’t go away.”

According to the Governor’s Office, civil legal services is and has been on the radar, referring to an earlier initiative by Hobbs to direct $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars to civil legal aid services to combat evictions. 

Christian Slater, a spokesperson for Gov. Katie Hobbs, declined to comment on budget negotiations, but did offer words of support for civil legal aid. 

“Governor Hobbs has been outspoken about the reckless and harmful cuts from the federal government that threaten to strip critical support and services from countless people,” Slater said. “She’s also directed millions of dollars to support civil legal aid in the state, helping everyday Arizonans combat evictions and receive the legal services they need.”