Ehrlich on Washington column, July 28, 1996

NEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 21093 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. 315 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Week of July 28, 1996 TIME FOR A BUDGETARY GUT CHECK c Despite the best efforts of this Congress, the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is still alive and well in Washington. Last week the House passed an amendment to an FY 1997 appropriations bill increasing funding for this bureaucratic boondoggle— this despite the fact the House voted last year to phase out LSC by 1998, and the House Judiciary and Senate Appropriations Committees both recommended earlier this year that LSC be replaced with a state-administered legal services block grant. I opposed this amendment (and ultimately the appropriations bill itself) because it represents an unfortunate retreat from Congress’ overarching goal-balancing the budget and restoring a sense of fiscal sanity back to Washington. Given the massive levels of debt we are facing, it is not possible to fund every federal program for which a powerful constituency exists. Anyone who tells you differently is looking out for their interests— not yours. Many of my colleagues supported the LSC amendment because of their desire to preserve the poor’s access to legal representation. I share these concerns. Where I differ from my colleagues, however, is that I believe that there are better and cheaper ways to provide these services. When I practiced law, I participated in the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS), an organization which provides poor people with quality legal representation. MVLS has been quite successful in helping those citizens who cannot afford a lawyer, but need one anyway. In my view, the best way to expand legal services to the poor is not a federal program, but rather using federal dollars to